Between My Brother And Me: Ab Antiquo
by Green Phantom Queen
Summary: Part of the "Between My Brother And Me" series: Rebecca Hopkins and her brothers move to Domino City, where Yugi has unleashed two things: the spirit of an ancient Pharaoh, and a mad sorcerer who wishes revenge on said Pharaoh. In order to stop him, it will involve allying with a set of acolytes and venturing into the world of Hamunaptra to uncover the pharaoh's ancient past.
1. Prologue: Awakening From Beyond

_You all are probably wondering why I have another story up, huh?_

 _Rest assured, this is going to be a quick story, detailing how Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle and unleashed the slumbering spirit from within._

 _Welcome to another story in "Between my Brother and Me", but this takes place in the same world as "Ab Initio", about one year prior to Ash Ketchum's surprise appearance there. The timeframe of the story is around the same time as "Between my Brother and Me: Ab Antiquo" but you don't have to read that story (which will be much longer than this one) to get the gist of this one._

 _Characters you know from both Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! will make their appearance here and, while I won't spoil too much, this will be adapting the "Pyramid of Light" movie but with Pokémon characters._

 _Everything in regards to this fanfic follows the notes from "Ab Initio" so yes there will be male/male pairings in the story. If you don't like it, then don't read._

 _Now then, let's return to the land of the pyramids…_

* * *

 **Between my Brother and Me: Ab Antiquo**

Author: Green Phantom Queen

Rated: T

Summary: Yugi Muto has solved the Millennium Puzzle one stormy night and unleashed two things: the first being the spirit of an ancient pharaoh, the second being a rogue sorcerer ready to unleash Hell on Earth. Joining his side are two peculiar groups: a young girl and her band of brothers, and a group of acolytes who work in the darkness and, despite their differences, both will have to get along in order to stop the menace.

 **Prologue: Awakening From Beyond**

" _I slept with faith and found a corpse in my arms on awakening; I drank and danced all night with doubt and found her a virgin in the morning."_

 _-Aleister Crowley_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _Light and darkness. Two forces that were there when the universe began and will still be there when it ends._

 _The two have fought each other in an eternal struggle to see which was superior. There has never been a clear-cut answer to this dilemma._

 _For in light, there are those who wish to say they are of goodness, but they act as if they are just like the very monsters they try to destroy._

 _And in darkness, there are those who wish to be gentle protectors for those who travel beneath a dark and starry sky._

 _The debate for light and darkness will never end, shall it? But this story isn't about who is better or who deserves to rule over all, but rather what happens when allies of light and darkness decide to work together for a greater good._

 _Sit back, relax, and breathe this all in. This is a story that will leave you curious, I hope._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

The dungeon is clear, that is the first thing she notes.

The long blonde-haired female swordsman dressed in silver, and wielding with a sword that seems to glow like the stars themselves, rushes through the rooms, slicing barrels and crates in the hopes of collecting bottles of antidotes or potions that she can use to heal herself. So far, she has traveled alone, fighting off as many enemies as she can in the hopes of rare goods. She is unafraid of the various monsters here-she faces many of them in real life, after all.

The dungeon slightly unnerves her-it is corrupted, patches of red marked with yellow 1s and 0s litter the walls and floor, and there is a static-y sound in the background, but she trudges on. She can smell treasure here.

As she reaches the very end of the dungeon, her eyes grow to the size of dinner plates at what she sees.

Three girls, all dressed in black, firing rings of green hexagons and black streams of data at a monster, an Archfiend of Gilfer, before it lets out an unearthly howl and turns into a burst of black rectangles that become absorbed into the group. As the monster vanishes the spectating warrior drops her sword, the weapon hitting the floor echoing through the dungeon.

"T...that was _amazing_!" she gasps.

The three girls (all with blond hair in different hairstyles and all of them having equally black eyes) pause, turning to see the silver warrior continuing to talk.

"How did you do all of that?" she continues. "You rewrote his data like it was _nothing_! What type of weapon do you have that lets you do that?"

"It's...um, uh…" The girl in the middle stammers, pushing the tips of her second fingers together.

"Oh, sorry…" says the silver warrior as she picks up her sword. "But still, things are weird here…" She looks around and motions to the walls. "I've been playing the game for quite some time, and I've never _seen_ anything like this before." She rubs her chin. "It's been like this for quite some time, hasn't it? I wonder if the mods at Aether Foundation know about this or-"

" _Rebecca!"_ cries a male voice. " _Turn off that laptop right now!"_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Ah, damn it! My eyes!"

In the real world, Rebecca Hopkins feels someone pulling her VR headset out of her eyes as bright sunlight replaces it. She winces as she looks at her surroundings: she's in a car that is parked right in front of a building, the doors to the car open and a tall figure with spiky blond hair and grey eyes looking at her.

"What's going on?" she asks. "Where are we, Raphael?"

"The Kame Game Shop," Raphael answers, handing the headset back to his little sister. "I've been trying to get you to log out for the last ten minutes so we can drop our luggage and go out to eat."

Rebecca blinks as she looks out and see her other brothers waiting at her impatiently.

"Rebecca…" Miruko whines, jumping up and down. In his hands is a strange action figure from the "Dyna Dude" toyline that, for some odd reason, Miruko is absolutely obsessed with. "Hurry up, please! I'm soooooooo hungry!"

"If we don't get out soon, I'm going to be eating Amelda here where everyone can see!" Varon exclaims, grabbing onto a man with short red hair and dressed in a long black jacket (despite the sun shining above their heads). Rebecca gasps and places a hand to her mouth while Raphael whacks Varon at the back of the head.

"Don't give her any ideas, Varon," Raphael mutters, before noticing Amelda in the middle, looking like he's about to collapse any minute. "Shit, that's bad…"

"Sorry about that everyone," says Rebecca, slightly embarrassed before turning to her laptop and wireless controller. "Um, can I just leave one message before I log out?"

"...Fine," Raphael grunts, pulling out a large rolling suitcase out of the car. "But make it quick."

"Thank you, nii-san!" Rebecca nods her head as she adjusts her VR headset once more.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"I'm sorry for that!" says the blond swordsman, bowing toward the three in black. "I have to get going. You see, I just moved into Domino City after being in America for so long and...oh, what am I saying? Let me give you a friend request to you all so we can duel and dungeon-hunt later on. Can I get your names? You can call me, Mistral, by the way."

"Bianca," says the girl in the middle. Her dress is marked with the image of an orange bird. Mistral can't tell what type of bird it is, though.

"Elesa," says the girl on the left, her blond hair in a bowl cut and bangs covering her forehead. Her dress, with the skirt open to expose her legs, is lined in red, making Mistral think of a spider.

"Korin," says the girl on the right, her hair in a ponytail as she pumps her arm. Her dress is lined with yellow and her playful attitude reminds Mistral of a monkey.

"Right, I'll remember that," says Mistral, hastily sending the friend requests. She then waves goodbye. "Until next time."

Three rings of light descend over her as she fades away. As she does, the three other girls turn to each other.

"Do you think that she'll be involved with your fortune, Bianca?" asks Elesa. Bianca looks at her hands before shaking her head.

"I can't say for sure," she mutters. "The future is never clear, now is it?"

"Don't think about it too hard," says Korina, placing a hand on Bianca's shoulder. "We've done enough in this particular dungeon, Come on, let's head back to Alto Mare and see what the others have found out."

Elesa and Bianca nod their heads as they Gate Out of the dungeon.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Yugi!"

Yugi Muto gasps in surprise as he's tackled by Rebecca Hopkins, the two falling to the ground with a thud as the girl laughs. Walking towards the two is Yugi's grandfather, Sugoroku, who helps the young girl stand up.

"Welcome to Domino," he chuckles, seeing Rebecca adjust her glasses. "It's been some time since I saw you and your grandfather." He looks up and sees Raphael carrying two large rolling suitcases in. "And Raphael, you've grown quite a bit too."

Raphael smiles as Miruko enters with a laugh, spinning round and round as he takes glances at the multiple cards that are on display. Varon helps carrying a slightly sick Amelda into the Game Shop, the red-haired man leaning against Varon's shoulder.

"Can we eat soon?" he mutters, his skin pale. Varon smiles, flashing his fangs momentarily.

"We'll eat soon enough, love," he chuckles, seeing Yugi look at the group in alarm.

"You adopted more brothers again?" Yugi asks Rebecca. Rebecca laughs nervously.

"I wouldn't call them 'brothers', exactly…" she says. "But anyway, isn't this so exciting? We'll be staying at the Kame Game Shop for a few nights before we can move into our new apartment! So, uh...you don't mind if we take Amelda and Varon to the guest room for the time being, right?"

Yugi turns to see Amelda looking like he's about to hurl before hastily opening the door that leads to the stairs. "Yeah, this way."

"Thanks, mate," says Varon, as he and Miruko help Amelda upstairs. "You'll be feeding soon enough."

As the three leave upstairs, Rebecca takes a gander at the various posters and Duel Monster cards on display. She herself has a Deck and Duel Disk ready for whenever she wants to duel, but her attention falls onto a strange thing on the counter: a golden box with an eye in the center.

"What's this?" she asks. She approaches it and lifts the lid, revealing a myriad of golden pieces. "A...a puzzle?"

"Something I picked up long ago during my younger days," says Sugoroku, watching as Raphael returns to the car to gather the rest of the luggage. "Yugi found it one day in the attic and has been trying to solve it for the past couple of days."

"It's really interesting," Yugi notes, pointing to a line of hieroglyphics. "And here, there's a riddle."

"What does it say?" Rebecca is a fan of puzzles and riddles-anything that challenges her mind makes her excited (which is why she is keen to have copies of all the _Professor Layton_ games on her Nintendo 3DS).

"'What can be seen and cannot be seen?'" Yugi answers. Rebecca rubs her chin in thought. "It varies, but to me...I say the answer is 'friendship'."

"Friendship…" Rebecca whispers. Leaving America for Japan so suddenly means that she has had to say goodbye to her friends (which wasn't much, but they all sent her good-bye cards and wished her the best of luck). Not helping is that her grandfather still has to stay behind in America, and thus her brothers will be taking care of her for the time being. "That...that sounds nice."

"Rebecca!" cries Miruko, rushing downstairs. "Amelda needs to...um...you know…"

Rebecca briefly looks at her watch and nods her head. "All right, we'll go out to eat soon. Yugi, do you know any good restaurants around here?"

"If you don't mind hamburgers, Anzu is currently working at 'Burger World' just a few blocks from here," Yugi answers. "Is your brother feeling all right?"

"Oh, of course he is!" Rebecca stammers. "He's...he's slightly anemic and needs a lot of iron in his diet." Yugi stays quiet as Rebecca looks down at her feet suddenly, then nods his head.

"All right, then. We'll head off in ten minutes. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course!" Rebecca answers. "Just let me unpack, all right?"

Yugi nods as Rebecca hurries outside, almost bumping into Raphael who is carrying even more luggage, before she reaches for her laptop and gaming accessories, hastily packing them in her laptop bag before rushing out. As she does this, she doesn't see someone spying on her…

Or rather, _five_ someones spying on her…

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So...this is what Bel foresaw, right?"

The voice belongs to someone holding a camera, taking photos of Rebecca rushing back into the Kame Game Shop. He lowers his hand as he stares at the four other members of his group. Each of them are dressed in long black cloaks marked with a myriad of grey lines.

"I still have no idea why Kaiba asked us to investigate this place of all things," he notes. "What do you think, Noah?"

"It seems too quiet for my tastes, Shooti," says Noah, a youth with teal hair that, if one doesn't know better, would've looked eerily similar to Seto Kaiba himself. Almost as if they are cousins. "I _am_ curious as to that whole 'eating thing' going on though…"

"I'm getting hungry myself," says a girl with light brown hair tied back with a large blue ribbon. She rubs her stomach. "Can we go get something for lunch after this, Reiji?"

"Of course, Molly," says a fourth voice, belonging to the tallest of the group, Reiji. "Jun, can you hear anything else?"

"No…" Jun, the last Acolyte, shakes his head. "I do hear a lot of...um...strange sounds in the upper bedroom."

"Like what?" asks Molly. "Is someone hurt? Or in pain? Should we go after them?"

"No…" Jun blushes. "We should...just leave them alone for the time being. Come on, let's head off to eat."

The five nod before Reiji lifts his hand and a black portal emerges in front of them. The groups walks toward it, before the portal blinks out and they are gone.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Rebecca: This is so exciting, isn't it? Domino City will be an amazing place to live in!**

 **Miruko: I'd be happy as you if I didn't get the strange feeling that we're being watched…**

 **Varon: It's probably jet lag. Don't worry about it too much.**

 **Amelda: I highly doubt it.**

 **Raphael: The day isn't over yet, is it? Next time, "Ab Antiquo Chapter 1: Storm Caller"**

 **Yugi: A storm is coming, and it looks like Hell is about to be let loose.**


	2. Storm Caller

_**My name is Rebecca Hopkins. I'm from America, and I'm known for my love of three things.**_

 _ **First, it's weapons. But not just ANY weapons; I like those with a history behind them. Why bother to talk about just a regular old sword when you can talk about legendary ones like Excalibur or a spear like Gungnir? Those are the ones worthy in my book.**_

 _ **Second, it's romance...but not just ANY romance. I love those between boys. Just those simple gestures-from the looks they give each other, them holding hands, or just them confessing their love for one another-makes me smile from ear to ear. I just find it sooooo amazing! I'm not afraid to admit that seeing the love that Amelda and Varon share for each other is just so heart-warming (especially when you understand the reason behind their love). I hope to find others who share this sentiment here.**_

 _ **Speaking of Amelda and Varon, my third favorite thing is my family. Raphael, Amelda, Varon, Miruko...my brothers are an important part of my life. After my parents died, they filled a huge void that was left. And with grandpa not joining us here in Domino City, that's going to be more important than ever….**_

 _ **Because what's about to happen is gonna change our experience in Domino City from just a "moving to a new country" experience into "moving into a new world" one instead.**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **1st Move**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Storm Caller**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm._

 _-Willa Cather_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Really?" asks Miruko, his mouth wide open. " _That's_ how Sugoroku jii-chan obtained the Kame Game Shop?"

"And that he looked so similar to Indiana Jones in theh past?" Rebecca adds. Yugi nods his head.

"I was just as surprised as you guys were when he told it to me," he says with a laugh. Amelda quickly raises his brother's jaw up before taking a bite out of his second burger. Burger World isn't too busy today, and Anzu Mazaki (Yugi's childhood friend) is happy to learn more about Rebecca, her brothers and their life America (along with dropping a not-so-subtle hint that she finds Amelda and Varon "cute"). Rebecca and Miruko giggle as Varon lets out a sigh.

"Jet lag is a freaking pain in the ass," he mutters. "I can't wait to get some shut-eye after this."

"I'm too hyped up to go to sleep," says Rebecca. "I think I'll be sorting out my deck and maybe buy some new cards for it. I can't wait to show everyone my deck at school next week!"

"Speaking of which," says Yugi. "What type of monsters do you use now? I mean, last time I saw you, you said you were interested in a Warrior deck, right?"

"I gave that to Raphael," Rebecca answers. "My new deck is full of unique Fairy-type monsters."

"Like Agents or Airknight Parshath?"

"You'll see when I bring it out," Rebecca giggles. "But let's just say that I've grown from dreaming of being saved by a knight in shining armor and decided that **I** should become my own knight instead."

"She was once part of Drama Club back at her old school," Amelda explains, feeling much better as he dips three french fries into his vanilla milkshake before stuffing them in his mouth. "She likes to act out the male roles in various productions."

"It's sort of fun, don't you think?" asks Rebecca. Raphael chuckles as he pats his sister on the head. Then, he looks out and frowns.

"Say…" he says, clasping his hands and raising them to his face. "When did those five...enter?"

"Which five?" asks Miruko.

" _Those_ five."

Raphael points to a group of five, four boys and one girl, sitting just two tables away from them. None of them are eating, but rather they are silent. They are dressed like normal people are dressed, but Raphael can something wrong in their eyes.

Their eyes...seem dead.

Yugi turns around, seeing the young girl of the group (with short brown hair tied back with a bright blue ribbon) waving back at him. He smiles and waves back before the girl rushes toward him.

"Are you the famous Yugi Muto?" she asks, a wide grin on her face.

"Yeah," Yugi answers. He notices that the girl is wearing a white dress with a blue pinafore and matching blue shoes-almost like a reverse of Alice Liddel's famous powder blue dress and white pinafore. "And who are you?"

"Call me Molly, everyone calls me that!" Molly giggles, rocking back and forth.

"I'm Rebecca," says Rebecca, extending her hand out. "Let's be friends, all right?"

Molly nods her head, about to take Rebecca's hand into her own, but then...she pauses and lowers her hand.

"W...what's going on?" asks Miruko. "Are you okay?"

"...I'm fine," Molly says, looking down at her shoes. "It's just that…" She lifts her her head and, for a moment, it seems like her eyes are lifeless and empty, making her look like a life-sized doll than a little girl. "...You're...you're all in danger."

"Danger?" asks Varon. "How so?"

"A storm...a storm is coming," Molly answers. "And it's coming after...you!"

Yugi gasps when the young girl points a finger toward him. "W….what do you mean?"

"A dark storm will soon appear," Molly answers in an empty monotone. "And when it does, the dead shall rise and will come for your most precious possession."

"Like what?" Miruko whispers.

"...Your heart."

No one says a word as Molly suddenly starts to sway backwards as she places a hand on her forehead. She collapses…

Or rather, she is about to but is stopped by a tall man with purple hair tied into a short ponytail catching her. Molly's eyes close and she is asleep now.

"Oh dear," says the man, looking down at Molly. "I hope she didn't scare you. She tends to wander away in thought sometimes."

"N-no...she didn't," Rebecca stammers, briefly looking at Yugi. "It's...it's nothing...I hope."

Raphael narrows his eyes as he sees the older man, taking Molly into his arms, walk back to the other three boys who are now sharing glances at one another. Something about this situation is sending warning signals in his brain, but he can't figure out why.

 _Something tells me that things are going to get bad soon..._ he thinks, taking a sip of lemonade.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

When the group return, they relax in the living room while Sugoroku goes out to buy groceries for tonight's dinner. Miruko is currently reading a copy of _The Invention of Hugo Cabret_ , Amelda and Varon are resting on the couch (Amelda letting out a sigh as he nuzzles into his beloved's chest), Rebecca is watching _Blade Runner_ on the television (It is currently at the scene where Leon screams "Wake up! Time to die!") while Yugi is hard at work with the mysterious puzzle and its myriad of golden pieces.

As for Raphael, he is currently on a video phone call with Arthur Hopkins on Rebecca's laptop, the elderly archaeologist relieved to know that his granddaughter is safe and sound. Still, Raphael needs some questions answers (although he omits Molly's warning for Yugi).

"Sugoroku says he found this golden chest filled with puzzle pieces," he begins. "Mr. Hopk..Grandpere…" He whispers that last part to himself. "Would you happen to know anything about it?" Arthur lets out a long sigh.

"I only know bits and pieces of Sugoroku's adventure in retrieving that puzzle, Raphael," he says. "But I do know that whoever solves that it will unleash a powerful and ancient force that is said to be the key to opening the Gates of Hamunaptra."

"'Hamunaptra'? Wait, you mean that city that was mentioned in _The Mummy_? It exists?"

"Yes, that very same one. Hamunaptra is said to be the City of the Dead, known for keeping the treasures of numerous Pharaohs and kept protected by the Priest of Osiris and a secluded band of guards dedicated to protecting the Pharaoh's legacy." Arthur frowns. "But if what you're saying is correct, then we could all be in grave peril.

"Be very careful, Raphael. I'm entrusting my granddaughter's safety, and the rest of her 'brothers', in your care. Can I trust you?"

"...Yes, you can," Raphael looks at something dangling on his left wrist. It is a charm bracelet decorated with five different charms: a sword, a cross, an eight-pointed star, a key and a feather. It is a symbol to represent the family he has right now; a family that he will do everything to protect.

"I'm relieved," says Arthur. "Oh, I best get going. Take care, and make sure Rebecca doesn't stay up all night on that video game she likes so much."

"I'll make sure she gets enough sleep," says Raphael. "See you later."

He hangs up and approaches the living room, where Rebecca has momentarily stopped the film so she can watch Yugi continue to work on the strange puzzle, the smaller boy's eyes transfixed on making sure everything is precise and correct. Sometimes Yugi hesitates as he has to make sure that the piece he places is the exact one, all while Rebecca sighs.

"What are you thinking about?" asks Raphael, sitting next to his little sister. Rebecca turns to Raphael.

"About what might happen when Yugi finishes that puzzle," she answers. "I mean, maybe he'll unleash a genie, or it'll take us into another world. Isn't it exciting?"

"Yeah!" says Miruko, looking up from his book. Suddenly, he pauses as he looks outside the window. "Um, wasn't it supposed to be sunny today?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

Miruko points as Rebecca turns to see that it's dark aside. Then it begins to rain, the rain droplets pounding hard against the roof of the Kame Game Shop, and the wind groaning like a person in pain.

"That's odd," she notes. "But then again, it's not uncommon for Japan to have powerful storms, right?"

"This doesn't seem like a natural one, though," Raphael notes. "Do you think...it has something to do with Molly?"

"No...that'd be ridiculous!" Rebecca laughs a bit. "So, uh...let's get back to watching the movie, all right?"

"Can you put the volume down, though?" Varon mutters, not even facing Rebecca. "It's too loud…"

"Fine, fine," Rebecca sighs, picking up the remote control. "Let's continue the adventures of Deckard the Blade Runner, shall we?"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

How long has it been since he has been sealed within the darkness?

The figure slowly wakes up, feeling a pull...a familiar pull. And there is a magical aura that radiates throughout his body. He can feel it and he knows it is so close.

So close…

He will be free soon enough. He will reunite with his beloved Heba very soon…

And when he does, no one will stand between them ever again.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Yugi momentarily stops working on the Millennium Puzzle to help prepare dinner for the night. It's a bit difficult to maneuver around the kitchen since there are more people helping to set the table and prep (Who would've thought that Varon is the chef out of them all?), but the dinner is quiet, barring Sugoroku asking Rebecca and her brothers multiple questions about their life in America.

As Yugi eats, he can't help but gaze at Amelda and Varon's closeness. When he asks Rebecca as to how they fell in love, she answers back that they "carry a blood bond"...whatever that meant. For some odd reason, he wants to be able to have a relationship similar to what they have, but he can probably do without Rebecca gazing at him lovingly.

He doesn't ask any more questions after that, his mind filled with thoughts about the strange puzzle and how he wants to complete it as soon as possible.

After dinner, and Rebecca and Miruko working to wash the dishes, Yugi is in his bedroom, a bedsheet draped over his head and a flashlight as his only source of illumination as he continues to put the puzzle together. The only sound that can be heard is the pouring of rain outside and the various "clicks" of puzzle pieces connecting as he continues. From what he has gathered, the finished puzzle will look like an inverted pyramid and that it can be worn once he found a chain to loop it through.

It takes him only a few hours to get everything together (as he is lover of puzzles and games, something that Rebecca can also agree on) and he is excited to see what happens when he fully completes it.

He is now down to the last piece, the one that fits in the center of the pyramid. Pulling the piece out of its box, Yugi looks at it in wonder. The piece has the Eye of Horus staring back at him, observing him in a way that only an eye like that can. As he is about to place it, he pauses.

" _A dark storm will soon appear, and when it does, the dead shall rise and will come for your most precious possession._

" _Your heart."_

Yugi looks at the puzzle piece once more as Molly's words echo in his head. "His heart"? What exactly does it mean? Is she being literal and the is going to die?

Or perhaps...perhaps it is the figurative heart, the one filled with emotions of love and desire…

Yugi shakes his head. How is he supposed to take a little girl's words at face value? Okay, so maybe the storm came unexpectedly, but the dead rising? No, that never happens…

Still, the idea of someone stealing his heart sounds interesting. He can only think of Amelda and Varon, the way they look at each other, or how they hold each other close...he can imagine the two of them living happily ever after for sure.

Yugi's heart pounds against his chest as he stares at the incomplete puzzle and the final piece, weighing his options. What to do? What to do?

 _Release me…_

Yugi's eyes widen when he hears the voice. He pulls the sheets off of him and looks around, but there is no one at all.

"Hello?" he asks, grabbing the flashlight. "Raphael, is that you?"

 _Please, set me free…_

A flash of lightning startles the teen as he waves the flashlight around, but once again he finds nothing. He shines the light on the unfinished puzzle before looking at the last piece. The piece is calling out to him; he can feel it pulse with a strange yet familiar presence.

Setting the flashlight down, Yugi takes the final piece into his hand and slowly nods his head. Anticipation begins to take over, his heart beating rapidly as he slowly places the piece with a firm "click"...

Nothing happens.

Yugi slightly pouts as he looks at the completed trinket at various angles. It is well crafted, he can tell, but he would like to know whatever is inside it, or if anything _is_ inside it in the first place.

"What can be seen yet cannot be seen?" Yugi whispers, recalling the riddle carved on the outside of the box. "I wish I knew what it was…"

"Then allow me to answer that for you."

A bolt of lightning temporarily blinds him. When he can see once more, Yugi is surprised to find a strange person staring back at him….one that looks similar to him but dressed as if he hailed from Ancient Egypt.

"W….wha…" Yugi stammers out, staring at the stranger then looking back at the Millennium Puzzle. "W...who are you?"

The figure chuckls as he leans close and places a kiss on Yugi's forehead. He cups Yugi's chin with a hand, tilting it up so Yugi can see the stranger's crimson eyes staring back at him.

"You should know me, Heba," the stranger murmurs. "How else would you have known to release your soulmate after all this time?"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Reiji!" says Jun, rushing into the eldest boy drinking tea in the main hall of their darkened hideout. "Did you sense that?"

Reiji sits up and sets the teacup down on the table next to him. "Yeah, I sense it too. This presence..." He shivers. "Whoever it is, they are very powerful, possessing the powers of the Shadow Realm itself."

"Do you think that strange being is going to steal Yugi's heart?" asks Molly nervously. She doesn't like it when she has these strange visions; it always makes her feel as if she will eventually be possessed by whatever makes her see the future.

"Perhaps," says Shooti, pocketing his camera. "But what we need to know is whether or not his motives are benign or malicious. Then, we'll decide if we exterminate him or not."

"I hope we don't have to," says Molly. "I'd like to be friends with him."

"Come on, everyone," says Noah letting out a sigh. "I honestly hope that Wataru and the other Dark Signers are doing okay in 'that world'."

"I'm sure they're having a better time there than we are here," says Reiji, pulling the hood over his cloak. "Now, remember that we have to play by the rules. No striking anyone with magic unless they strike first. You understand?"

The other four nod their heads as they pull their hoods up. Reiji smiles, his eyes flickering to a shade of black as the grey lines of his cloak darken to a deep violet color. The other four in black hooded cloaks have the lines of their cloaks flash in different colors before Reiji summons another portal of shadows with the wave of his hand.

"Let's go," he says. "We Acolytes have a lost soul to observe…"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Rebecca: A storm is brewing, a girl's strange words, and now this?**

 **Raphael: I knew something was wrong, and now we're not going to get out of this, now are we?**

 **Miruko: And I highly doubt those cultists are going to make this easy for us.**

 **Amelda: We'll take care of them, Miruko. Don't worry.**

 **Varon: And if it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they get. Next time, Ab Antiquo 2, "Black and White Wave"**

 **Rebecca: Well, it looks like it's time for me to be** _ **en garde,**_ **huh? I'll gladly oblige.**


	3. Black and White Wave

_**Like Rebecca said previously, what we're about to experience was gonna be one of those "moving into a new world" ones.**_

 _ **It's bad enough that Yugi unleashed some strange doppleganger that looked like he came from Ancient Egypt himself, but now those five strangers I sensed back at Burger World are here too, and apparently they want this stranger for whatever dark and macabre purpose is in their twisted minds.**_

 _ **If they manage to hurt me? Fine, I can take it.**_

 _ **If they dare to try and harm my little sister? Well, I'm going to make them pay with their own lives.**_

 _ **That's what I'm thinking as I watch Rebecca duel one of these freaks. I have full faith in her abilities…**_

 _ **But I'm doubting whether or not she can fight off the monstrosity in front of her…**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **2nd Move**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Black and White Wave**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

" _There's so much grey to every story - nothing is so black and white."_

 _-Lisa Ling_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Raphael is asleep on the floor (the bed is too small for him, so he gives it to Rebecca) when he hears the roar of thunder and the flash of lightning hits his eyes.

He is suddenly awake, hand to his heart. Ever since that fateful day when he was younger and lost his original family to a storm, he has had a fear of thunder and lightning. Tonight is no different. Not helping his phobia is the strange feeling that something is wrong.

A groan interrupts his thoughts. Turning to his right, he finds Rebecca rolling to her side, gently clutching onto plushies of Guardian Eatos and Vampire Lord in her hands. He smiles before laying back in bed, hoping to block out the roaring thunder and get some shut-eye…

Except he can't when he hears a noise coming down the hallway. It sounds like...a scream.

Sitting up once again, Raphael goes to the door and opens it. He looks around and sees a dim light coming from Yugi's room. That strange feeling he felt earlier is coming up again. Without hesitation, he marches to the hall and opens the door..

Or at least tries to. For some odd reason, it's locked.

"Yugi!" says Raphael, pounding on the door. "Open up! What's going on?"

"He's going to be pretty busy at the moment," says a voice behind him. "But, it sucks that we had to expect company so soon."

Raphael turns, seeing a young boy with short aquamarine hair and cerulean eyes standing behind him. What startles Raphael the most is the fact that the boy is wearing a black cloak lined with blue and that, momentarily, those cerulean eyes flicker to a shade of black.

"Who are you?" Raphael snarls. The boy smiles.

"Noah," The boy answers back. "I'm sorry that you and your family is going to be involved in this, but it seems like we both want the same thing."

"And what's that?"

"Yugi Muto and the spirit that he's freed from that puzzle."

As Raphael tries to understand what Noah means, Noah raises his hand toward the doorknob. Concentrating, he hears the door latch unlock and the door opening with a loud "whoosh". Raphael doesn't hesitate to enter Yugi's bedroom.

"What ha-" Raphael is speechless for words as he watches the scene in front of him.

Yugi is pinned to the bed by what can only be an older version of the boy himself with eyes the color of blood rubies and deeply tanned skin. Dressed in a white tunic and golden accessories that immediately bring to mind of those from Ancient Egypt (from the ankh earrings, the band around his forehead marked with the Eye of Horus, and the bracers that have hieroglyphics carved into them), the most startling thing about this stranger are his wings….

Black wings made out of serrated metal that make him resemble a demon.

Yugi is unable to speak, paralyzed with fear of this demonic double on top of him, the person's grin growing wide like a cat ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse. He briefly turns to see Raphael standing at the doorway and tries to reach out.

"H...help!" he pleads. "This guy is-" He never gets to finish that sentence as shadows cover his mouth like a piece of cloth. The darker Yugi snarls as he slowly turns to Raphael, wings outstretched so he resembles a fallen angel more than anything else. The dim light from the flashlight gives him an ominous glow that causes Raphael to flinch slightly.

"Who are you to stop me from reuniting with my soulmate?" The demonic figure asks. Raphael is unable to say anything but Noah immediately steps forward, his blue eyes still black.

"My fellow Acolytes and I were sent to investigate a presence that came from…" Noah looks down and notices the strange golden inverted pyramid held by a thick chain in-between both Yugi and the demon. "That…"

"You mean this?" The demon picks up the trinket, the pyramid shining slightly despite the lack of light outside. "Oh this...the same item I was _imprisoned_ in all those years ago with only the darkness for company. This is what you are looking for?"

"No, we were actually looking for you." Noah smiles. "Now, Reiji!"

Raphael watches as a figure emerges from the corner of the room, a person with purple hair in a short ponytail, raise their hand as the demon is suddenly thrown back by a ball of dark violet flames, slamming against a bookshelf strong enough for the shelf and its contents to fall on top of him. Raphael doesn't have to turn around to know that doors are opening and people are rushing out.

"What in the name of Gungnir is going-" Rebecca gasps as she sees Yugi pinned by a multitude of shadows while his demonic double has tackled Reiji onto the floor, hissing and snarling at who dared to strike.

"You either are very brave or you have a death wish," The monster snarls into Reiji's ear. Reiji smirks.

"Well I'm already dead, so I don't have to worry about that," he notes.

"Nii-san…" Miruko whimpers, hiding behind Amelda. "What do we do?"

"We have to stop it now," says Varon, entering the bedroom. "Hey, care to give us a name?"

"I do not wish to give it to humans like you," the demon sneers. "But, if you wish to know, it is Atem."

"Like the Egyptian God of the Sun?" asks Rebecca. Atem smirks.

"So you've heard about me then?" he purrs as he crawls towards her, licking his lips. "Well, perhaps I can make you my first meal after I'm done with my dear Heba-"

He immediately finds Raphael grabbing his throat and lifting him into the air, Raphael's grey eyes turning dark.

"Hurt one hair on her head and you answer to _me_." he snarls, tightening his grip and causing Atem to gasp for air.

"And us!" Amelda adds, his eyes temporarily flickering to a shade of red. Varon cracks his knuckles.

"You're outnumbered, mate," he says. "So, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"You guys are doing neither," says Reiji, sitting up. "Not until we can figure out how to contain him."

Atem roars, unfurling his wings as he struggles to escape Raphael's death grip. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Miruko are immediately at Yugi's side, trying to figure out how to free him all while Yugi keeps screaming for help.

"Can't you do anything about this?" Rebecca asks Miruko. Miruko momentarily bites his lip and shakes his head.

"No," he answers, trying to reach toward Yugi, only to find the shadows retaliate and throw him back.

"Atem," Reiji begins. "If you are looking for this 'Heba' person, then you won't find it in Yugi. You need to come with us right now."

"NEVER!" Atem roars, placing his hand on Raphael's chest. Raphael has no time to react as he's pushed back by a powerful blast of energy, colliding with Amelda and Varon against the wall.

"NO!" Rebecca exclaims. "Raphael!"

"This is getting nowhere, Reiji!" Noah exclaims. He looks around him. "Molly! Jun! Shooti! We need you now!"

Atem slowly saunters to Yugi, but is suddenly stopped by long red strings of light that descend from the ceiling and wrap around his arms and legs, suspending him in mid-air. He growls, trying to find whoever has immobilized him, only to hear a girlish giggle.

"Here I am, Noah!" says Molly, descending from the ceiling with a graceful flip. "I did good, didn't I?"

"M-Molly?" Rebecca stammers, noticing the girl's black dress decorated in spider-lily embroidery. Even her blue hair ribbon is now replaced with a red one decorated with the design of a black spider-web. "What are you...what's going on?!"

"Us trying to prevent this monster here…" Reiji jerks his thumb at Atem. "From doing whatever he was going to do." He then pulls out a walkie-talkie and presses a button. "Shooti. Jun. Are you done securing the area?"

"We just finished the barrier spell," Shooti replies back. "Now no one can enter or exit the Kame Game Shop until we give the word."

"W...what?!" asks Varon, sitting up. "You're sealing us in here with that monster?"

 _Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?_ Rebecca thinks to herself as Atem stays silent. Then, he begins to laugh, a glowing eye shining on his forehead.

"What's so funny?" asks Molly, hiding behind Reiji. "Reiji...what's going on?!"

"So you managed to immobilise me, good for you!" Atem exclaims. "But you guys didn't think about one thing."

"And what's that?" asks Shooti (his black cloak lined with orange that forms a bird with long wings), emerging through a wall alongside Jun (who has his cloak decorated with a yellow glyph of a monkey). Atem smirks as the pyramid that Yugi completes begins to shine.

"That perhaps I had the power to send you _all_ into my personal playground!" Atem cackles. "This is the punishment all of you get for attacking me."

"Oh no!" says Rebecca, still trying her hardest to free Yugi by grabbing onto his arm. Unfortunately, the shadows tighten their grip almost to the point of crushing the poor boy and causing him to scream in pain. "Yugi...hold on...I'll save you!"

"He does not need your help!" Atem snarls. "I will make sure of it."

Then with a loud roar, his wings cut through Molly's red strings and the room is awashed with a golden light.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

Far away from the Kame Game Shop, a young boy with bushy black hair suddenly opens his eyes and wakes up. Some dark force has awakened, that he knows for sure. He doesn't know if he's supposed to go see what's going on…

But he does know that whatever has been summoned, its power is stronger than the forces that are under his control.

Mokuba Kaiba groans, rubbing sleep from his grey eyes as he turns to his deck, picking up his deck and looking at the first card that he draws: Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss.

"I don't like the looks of this..." he whispers, staring at the Dark Lord. "Just what does Seto know about Bel's vision?

"Better yet, what does he know that he hasn't been telling me lately?"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

The first thing Yugi feels when he wakes up is that he has a pounding headache.

The second thing he realizes is that he has a gold collar with a chain strapped to his neck and he is on his knees, dressed in a linen skirt and a multitude of golden accessories like bangles, armlets and, much to his surprise, a pair of earrings in the shape of ankhs.

"W...what the?" Yugi stammers, trying to figure out what is going on. He tries to stand up, but he finds a hand pushing him down to his knees.

"YUGI!" cries Rebecca's voice. Yugi looks up to see ten people staring at him, standing in what looks like the middle of a grand ballroom lit by a myriad of torches held by sconces. The walls are decorated with a myriad of hieroglyphs and the white pillars are decorated in a variety of colors. All in all, it reminds him of an Egyptian palace.

"This is bad…" says Reiji, standing in front of his fellow acolytes. "Wataru's gonna kill me when he finds out about this."

"Are you okay, Yugi?" asks Miruko.

Yugi tries to say something, but is stopped by someone laughing.

"Now, now, Heba...these people are going to entertain us. We can't disappoint them by leaving so soon."

Yugi's voice catches in his throat as he turns to his left. There, sitting on a throne made of obsidian is that demon, Atem, grasping on the chain with one hand grinning at his prey with a look that just screams, "I have you now, my pretty."

"What are you going to do with him?" Molly exclaims. Atem turns to the girl and chuckles.

"Nothing... _yet_ ," he answers. "But I do want some answers. Why have you come to separate me and from my Heba?"

"His name's not Heba, it's Yugi!" says Amelda. "You sick-" He quickly turns and notices Molly before stating, "Monster…"

"And you!" says Varon, approaching Jun and Shooti. "Where are we? Why did you create that barrier around the Game Shop? And why were you here in the first place?"

"It's kind of a long story," Jun stammers out. Varon grabs onto Jun's cloak and pulls him close until they are staring face to face.

"We're gonna be here for a while, so start talking," Varon snarls, exposing his fangs. Reiji sighs and steps in-between the two.

"We're sorry," he says. "If you want to punish someone, punish me."

"You're going to start by giving us some answers," says Raphael, sizing Reiji up. Even if he is taller and has more experience in a fight, there's something...off about Reiji that is making Raphael tense.

"We're so sorry, sir!" says Molly. "But we were told to keep an eye on the Game Shop because of that strange pyramid with the eye. We weren't going to hurt you, we swear!"

"That strange pyramid…" Yugi whispers before he looks down. He is now wearing the completed puzzle, the puzzle's eye shining softly.

"What Molly means to say," says Shooti. "Is that we Acolytes of the Dark Signers were tasked by our masters to track the strange phenomena that was around here. Of course, Molly had to have one of her trances and now…" He trails off as Atem lets out another laugh.

"How _interesting…_ " he says. "It looks like there are more denizens of darkness here than I thought." He moves his gaze toward Miruko. "And what's this?"

Miruko flinches when Atem stares at him before swallowing the lump in his throat and saying, "I don't want to be affiliated with the likes of you! Neither does Amelda nii-san nor Varon!"

"Dark Signers?" Rebecca repeats. "I've read a lot about the supernatural and I've heard nothing of that."

"We are the vessels of the Earthbound Immortals, entities who have been worshipped for just as long as those from the Egyptian Pantheon," Reiji explains. "Well, that's only half true; as Acolytes, we will become our masters' successors when the Immortals believe that they have served their time."

"So...you're all dead?" Rebecca asks hesitantly, briefly staring at Molly who could be no older than five.

"We're in an in-between state," says Noah. "We're not dead but we're not technically alive either. Depending on which Dark Signer 'revived' us, we host different abilities. For example, I can open doors to just about anything."

"Like when you were able to unlock that door without even touching it?" Raphael mutters. Noah nods his head.

"Or my strings!" Molly giggles.

"But why go to the Game Shop?" asks Amelda. "How did you know about _him_?" He points at Atem as he says that.

"We didn't at first," says Shooti. "But my master, Bel...she saw a glimpse of the future and we were given a tip by K...um, someone who wishes to remain anonymous to scout the Game Shop."

"And that thing with you _coincidentally_ being at Burger World around the same time we were?" asks Varon.

"I was hungry," Molly answers, looking at her shoes. "I'm sorry; if I had known you were going to eat there, we could've gone for pizza instead."

"It's not your fault," Jun sighs, patting Molly's shoulder. "But what do we do now?"

"You entertain me," Atem answers with a devilish smirk. "I wish to be entertained tonight and, if you do a good job, I shall let you go."

"Sorry, but I left my collection of William Shakespeare sonnets in my other pajama pants," Rebecca notes sarcastically. "Let Yugi go right now!"

"Sorry, but I cannot do that," says Atem, somehow appearing face to face with Rebecca despite not even getting out of his throne. Rebecca flinches as the demon runs a finger down her cheek. "I demand to be entertained, and you won't leave until I get a show!"

"Get your hands off her," Raphael growled, attempting to punch Atem, but Atem is at his throne once more.

"Oh, perfect…" Varon groaned. "Well, it's not like we can entertain ourselves with Duel Monsters since, heck, we left our Decks and Duel Disks in _another dimension_ and all…"

"Hey!" says Molly. "Why don't we duel? I mean, there's exactly five members in each group so we can all duel at least once and I'm sure it'll be lots of fun!"

"Duel Monsters?" A wicked smile forms on Atem's lips. "So even in this day and age, mortals are capable of summoning monster into battle?" He turns to Yugi. "Is this correct, love?"

Yugi hesitates, conflicted as to whether or not he should answer. Swallow a lump in his throat, the boy nods his head.

"Y...yes," Yugi stammers out. Atem laughs.

"Then it's settled!" he says, rising to his feet. "All of you shall duel before me and, not only shall I release you all from my domain, but I shall offer my services to the winning team."

"So a Best of 5 determines whether or not Wataru is going to kill us," Shooti groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, we can go through this except _oh wait…_ " He lifts his arm and points to it, "Where are our Decks and Duel Disks?! How are we _ever_ going to showcase our skills in front of-"

With a snap of Atem's fingers, ten flames materialize around ten different arms. They disappear as fast as they appear, and in their places are ten Duel Disks. Rebecca draws five cards from her deck and her eyes widen to the size of sand dollars.

"He...he got our decks and everything!" she gasps. "How did he do that?"

"When you are as old as I am, you learn a few tricks," Atem answers.

"Well, that solves one question," says Jun. "Now, how are do we decide who duels whom?"

"How about we choose ourselves?" asks Noah with a shrug of his shoulders before staring at the Hopkins, "I bet I could beat all of you without even trying."

"Yeah right," Miruko scoffs. "I'll make sure that my monsters will be feasting on your blood after all this is over."

"And besides," says Varon, leaning toward Noah and poking him in the chest. "You guys were the ones who invaded and caused us to be stuck here in the first place."

"He has a point," says Reiji. "All right. We're yours for the picking then."

"Goody!" Rebecca shouts, jumping up and down. "And you know, it _is_ customary for ladies to go first."

"Huh?" Molly blinks her eyes in surprise. "You want to duel me?"

"Sure!" says Rebecca, feeling sorry for the young girl. How exactly did Molly die to become a Dark Signer in the first place? Molly tilts her head.

"Are you okay, Rebecca?" she asks. Rebecca nods her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Say, you're a duelist?"

"Yep! But I constantly keep changing decks, so I haven't decided on what will be my main one."

"I can relate to that," Rebecca giggles. "So, we're just going to give it all we got, okay?"

"Don't go easy on me just because I'm younger than you, though," says Molly, activating her Duel Disk. "I want to prove to my brothers that I'm capable of dueling just like they are!"

"...All right then," says Rebecca, drawing five cards. "Let's hit the climax!"

"DUEL!"

 **(Molly: 8000) - - - - - - - (Rebecca: 8000)**

"Jun," asks Shooti. "What deck was Molly using the last time you dueled her?"

"A Dark Spellcaster deck," Jun answers. "As for what the monsters were, well I'll keep that a secret."

"You can do this!" Miruko shouts to Rebecca. "Show them what you're capable of!"

"Right," says Rebecca, giving him a thumbs-up. Meanwhile Raphael turns his gaze toward Atem, who is currently stroking underneath Yugi's chin as if the boy is an adorable kitten. He can only pity Yugi, seeing as the poor boy wanted to be far away from that monster.

"You mind if I start off first?" asks Rebecca. Molly shakes her head.

"No, go ahead," The younger girl answers.

"Very well, then," says Rebecca, drawing a card. "I'll start by playing one monster face-down and then set two more cards face-down. I'll end my turn there."

"Three face-down cards?" asks Molly, drawing a card. "Hmm, what do I do...Ah, I know! I'll summon Alice the Wandering Doll in Attack Mode!"

Rebecca raises an eyebrow as she sees Molly's monster. True to the card's name, it's a life-size doll dressed just like Alice Liddell with long, flowing blond hair falling to her waist. The doll's smile, for some odd reason, unnerves her. (1000 ATK)

"So…" Rebecca begins. "You like _Alice in Wonderland_ , then?"

"Yep!" Molly answers. "Reiji nii-san and Kamitsure nee-chan have read it to me twenty times, and I've watched the Disney film ten times! Noah even has a custom-made Wonderland deck that he'll give to me when I'm ready."

"Really now?" Rebecca smiles slightly. For a moment, she can forget that Molly is technically dead. "My favorite adaptations are the film that had Alice in a yellow dress and _American McGee's Alice_. In fact, last Halloween, my brothers and I decided to dress up as Wonderland characters! Cool, huh?"

"It is, but we have to get back to the duel. Alice, destroy her face-down monster."

Alice raises her hands and fires a ball of dark fire at Rebecca's monster, an angel with red hair, yellow toga and matching wings. (800 DEF)

"Oh no!" Molly gasps. "A Shining Angel? That means…"

"I get to Special Summon a Light Monster from my deck that has less than 1500 Attack Points," Rebecca finishes. "You've just made me play my favorite combo. I summon Artifact Beagalltach in Attack Mode!"

A large sword materializes, being wielded by a warrior made of red light with similar lines of red appear on the blade. (1400 ATK)

"Rebecca's an Artifact Duelist?" Yugi exclaims. "No, Molly's in danger now!"

"And why would that be, love?" asks Atem, turning his crimson-eyed gaze to Yugi. Yugi slightly shudders as he begins to talk.

"Artifact cards can be played face-down into the Spell/Trap Zone," he says. "And if you try to destroy her cards while face-down, then she can Special Summon them on your turn."

"But I don't see any plausible way for her to destroy her cards right now…" Atem trails off when he sees Rebecca smirk.

"When Beagalltach is Special Summoned on your turn, he can destroy up to two of my face-down cards!" Rebecca explains. "And, before you ask, _both_ of them are Artifact Monsters!"

Molly gasps as Beagalltach's wielder slices Rebecca's two face-down cards. Then, rising to the sides of Beagalltach is a purple warrior wielding a purple mechanical scythe (2200 ATK) and a violet teenage girl with a ponytail wielding a double-headed axe with similar violet neon lines. (2300 ATK)

"Meet Artifact Scythe and Artifact Labrys," says Rebecca. "And, unless you have Lightning Vortex in your hand, these guys will be attacking Alice on the next turn!"

"Smart…" Atem purred, leaning forward as Molly looks at her hand in a panic. "And feisty. Perhaps with a few years of training, she'd be an excellent warrior in my army."

"Um...I…I'll play my Field Spell Card, Cursed Dollhouse!" says Molly, slipping a Spell Card into the Field Slot. The ground beneath them begins to rumble before a humongous dollhouse materializes. It is decorated with dusty furniture, giving it a spooky atmosphere that makes Rebecca subconsciously shudder.

"Then I'll play two cards face-down…"

Two cards appear behind Alice.

"And I'll end it there. You're up, Rebecca."

"A Doll deck?" asks Varon, raising an eyebrow. "I've heard of Shaddoll, Karakuri and Gimmick Puppets, but I've never heard of something like this."

"Just be patient," says Amelda. "It's only her first turn after all."

"My turn~!" Rebecca sings, drawing her card. "Now Beagalltach, attack Alice!"

Beagalltach's wielder rushes toward the doll, ready to slice her in half. However, Alice suddenly catches the blade just before Beagalltach can make the attack.

 **(Molly: 7600) - - - - - - - (Rebecca: 8000)**

"Huh?" Rebecca blinks. "But Beagalltach is stronger than Alice!"

"Alice can't be destroyed in battle," Molly explains. "And whenever she's selected as an attack target, she can inflict you with 500 points of damage…"

As she says this, Alice smirks as she fires a blast of dark fire at Rebecca's Duel Disk.

 **(Molly: 7600) - - - - - - - (Rebecca: 7500)**

"And then Alice wanders off onto your side of the field."

Alice shimmers from Molly's side of the field and then re-materializes on Rebecca's side.

"That's not all," Molly continues. "When Alice moves to the opponent's side of the field, Cursed Dollhouse lets me Special Summon a 'Doll Part' from my Deck onto the field. So I'll play Doll Part - Blue in Defense Mode!"

An odd-looking monster appears on Molly's field: a doll's head with long brown hair and a blue glass eye. (0 DEF)

"Um...what?" asks Miruko. " _That's_ a monster?"

"Yep!" Molly nods her head. Rebecca frowns.

"I'm not done with my Battle Phase," she says. "Artifact Scythe, destroy that Doll Part!"

Artifact Scythe rushes into battle, the purple warrior raising the weapon above its head.

"Not so fast, Rebecca!" cries Molly. "I activate Waboku!"

The Trap Card flips over, revealing three priests in cyan robes. Then, the trio appears, blocking Artifact Scythe's attack before the warrior returns to Rebecca's side of the field.

"If you're trying to summon something through that Field Spell again, I'm not letting you," says Rebecca. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Dollhouse."

As the blue typhoon collides with Cursed Dollhouse, it seems as if the house itself is in pain before the field transforms into the Egyptian throne room once more.

"I guess I'll have to end my turn on that. You're up."

"Smart move," says Amelda. "She doesn't want Molly to Special Summon more Doll Part monsters via Alice's effect."

"Right, my turn!" says Molly, drawing her card. "Now I'll summon Doll Part - Gold in Attack Mode!"

A set of disembodied doll arms float onto the field. (0 ATK)

"Wait, you're putting that in Attack Mode?!" Rebecca exclaims. "But why?"

"It's strategy," Molly answers. "I'll play Rush Recklessly next so it gets 700 Attack Points this turn."

"But it'll still be weak against Rebecca's monsters," says Raphael. Then, he notices Alice the Wandering Doll. "Unless her target isn't the Artifact monsters but…"

"Doll Part - Gold," Molly commands her monster. "Attack Alice the Wandering Doll!"

The arms rush fly toward the Wandering Doll, but Alice just smiles before unleashing a plume of black fire that incinerates them.

 **(Molly: 6800) - - - - - - - (Rebecca: 7500)**

"I may lose 800 lifepoints," Molly notes. "But it's a small price to pay in order to get Alice back."

Just as she says, Alice returns to her side of the field.

"I'm not done. I activate my face-down card, Necro Dollmeister!"

Molly's face-down card flips over, depicting a pair of hands repairing a set of dolls.

"This card lets me Special Summon two 'Doll Part' monsters from my Deck on the turn a 'Doll Part' monster I control is destroyed in battle. So now I'll bring out my last two Doll Part monsters: Doll Part - Pink and Doll Part - Red!"

Two new "monsters" appear next to Doll Part - Blue: a pair of doll legs wearing red heels (0 DEF), and a naked doll torso. (0 DEF)

"And I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back Doll Part - Gold so that the gang's all here!"

"I don't like the sound of that…" says Miruko as the pair of doll arms emerge. "I mean, if you put them all together…" He gasps. "She can make a complete doll and…"

"Now that I have all four Doll Part monsters _and_ Alice the Wandering Doll on my side of the field…" Molly laughs. "You'll get to see the star of my deck. I activate my Spell Card, Marionette Burial!"

Molly's Spell Card appears, depicting a shovel pouring dirt on a coffin with a rose laid on the lid. Then, all four Doll Part monsters rise into the air in a tornado.

"With the offering of all four Doll Part monsters, I get to summon my all-powerful Doll Chimera onto the field!"

Descending to the field is a monster, all right. A twisted monster of a large naked mannequin staring at Rebecca with its one good eye, arms sprayed out that reminds the girl of _The Exorcist_ , crouching down to shatter her weapons once and for all. (1600 ATK)

"What in the name of Excalibur is THAT?!" she exclaims.

"Doll Chimera is the embodiment of every discarded children's toy wrath," Molly explains, her face slightly showing anger. "When children discard their toys because they're bored with them, Doll Chimera grows stronger and stronger, reflected by the fact that it gets 400 Attack Points for every Doll Part monster in my Graveyard.

"Tell me Rebecca...are _you_ one who would want to discard your toys when you're bored?"

"Of course not!" says Rebecca. "I still have the Guardian Eatos plushie Raphael gave me for my 6th birthday, and the Vampire Lord Miruko gave me on my 10th."

"Yeah, you know how long it took me to get that?!" Miruko exclaims.

"Molly," Amelda begins, noticing the hurt look on Molly's face. "You don't have to answer this question because what I'm asking is personal...but was your death connected to this monster?"

Molly pauses as she looks at her shoes for a few seconds. Then, she sighs.

"No, not all of it is because of Doll Chimera," she answers. "But a doll _is_ the reason I'm like this now.

"You see, my daddy was a famous archaeologist, but he was so caught up in his work that mommy eventually left him. He was the only person I had left in the world-I didn't have a lot of friends, and the butlers and maids that worked in the mansion I lived in were nice...but they weren't parents." Molly's eyes begin to fill with tears. "I was just so _lonely_ …

"Then, one day this old man who had a huge love for dolls-I think his name was Ridley something-had his car parked at the mansion and gave me a doll he recently bought at an auction. Her name was Alice, a girl with black hair and a dress that became my best friend. We did everything together: we read books, we held tea parties, we watched movies...it was all so magical. I never wanted it to end.

"Eventually my father returned from his extended trip and well…" Molly swallows the lump in her throat. "I quickly got enrolled into kindergarten and had to leave Alice behind. I made new friends and was having so much fun at school that I completely forgot about her, and daddy placed her in the attic of our house for safekeeping."

"And this is the part of the story in which the doll becomes vengeful, right?" asks Varon.

Molly nods her head. "I came home one day and heard something in the attic. It was there that I found Alice _alive_. She was angry at me-angry that I had abandoned her which wasn't the case. I tried to tell that to her, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. So...so…"

Her body begins to tremble.

"So she summoned the Doll Chimera and hurled me out a window where I fell to my death!"

Rebecca places a hand to her mouth as Molly drops to her knees and breaks down sobbing.

"My head cracked open like an egg," she continues. "I didn't know that I was even dead until Kamitsure-san resu…" Molly frowns as she tries to recall the word. "Resurrected me and told me my situation. My daddy was so sad when he learned what happened to me and he decided to destroy the doll... but Alice killed _him_ too, blaming him that if he didn't return, then she'd have me all to herself!"

"That's just sick…" Raphael mutters as Reiji kneels down and strokes Molly's back. After a minute or two, Molly calms down and slowly stands up.

"Kamitsure-san dueled Alice and learned that Alice had been possessed by the anger and hatred that was in Doll Chimera," she says, her voice soft. "And by destroying Doll Chimera, Alice was free from its influence and...she cried when she realized what she did. She could never forgive herself for killing me.

"But at the same time, daddy was still dead and so was I. I couldn't go back to daddy now that I became an Acolyte. So Kamitsure used her 'magic' to resurrect my dad and Alice well…" Molly stands up and sighs. "To make up for what she did, Alice decided that she will take my place and now Daddy believes that Alice is his real daughter and instead of me."

"That's unfair…" says Miruko, eyes filled with tears. "No child should go through that!"

"It's better though," Molly states simply. "Alice has someone who will always love her, and daddy makes sure that he will never leave his daughter behind ever again. I got an email from Alice a couple of days ago-she's working on an exca...excavating project with him. I'm glad for that. And I have a loving family who truly cares for me, so everyone wins, right?

"Plus, thanks to Kamitsure's duel, Doll Chimera's curse is gone. It won't hurt anyone anymore. I use the deck as a reminder of who I was before I became…" She slowly gestures to herself, a hand running through an embroidery of a spider-lily. "This."

Rebecca falls silent as she looks at Doll Chimera in the eye. Then she looks at Molly.

"I'm sorry about what happened," she says. "I kinda understand what you feel. I mean, I was lonely myself after my parents died, but my brothers…" she briefly turns to the four boys behind her, "They were here with me thick and thin and I can see that you have people who truly care for you.

"So, at the risk of sounding rude, are you done with your turn?" Molly nods while Rebecca draws a card. "Good, because I'm starting mine.

"I hope you're ready for what I'm summoning. I'm offering both Artifact Beagalltach and Artifact Scythe for an Xyz Summon!"

A black swirling galaxy manifests in front of Rebecca. Then, both Artifact Beagalltach and Scythe transform into two streams of light that jump into the center of the galaxy. Meanwhile, Rebecca crosses her arms across her head.

" _Brave angel that was born at the beginning of everything. Lead the charge and let light shine through in the neverending darkness! Xyz Summon! Rank 5! Rise, Tiras, Keeper of Genesis!"_

A brilliant light rises from the portal, causing the Dark Signers to turn away. When it dies down, Molly looks onto the field and watches as an angel unfurl his magnificent wings. He wears purple and red armor and purple gauntlets, while in his hands is a sword and a silver round shield with a red sun design. Surrounding his body are two glowing white orbs that revolve around him like planets. (2600 ATK)

"And this attack isn't personal, Molly. It's just dueling." Rebecca points to Doll Chimera, "Artifact Labrys, attack with Whirlwind War Swing!"

Artifact Labrys rushes to Doll Chimera spinning round and round before it lands an attack that causes the doll to fall apart with a clatter.

 **(Molly: 6100) - - - - - - - (Rebecca: 7500)**

"Tiras, attack Molly with...HUH?!"

Doll Chimera's body is wrapped in black fire as it suddenly reforms itself and then grows another pair of arms and another head forms on its shoulders. (1600 -) 2400 ATK) Meanwhile, Molly has sent two cards to the Graveyard.

"Doll Chimera can't be destroyed that easily," she explains. "Should it be destroyed by battle or effect, I can send two 'Doll Part monsters', like Doll Part - Blue and Doll Part - Gold from my deck to Special Summon it back to the field! Not to mention that it's much stronger now."

 _Damn it..._ Rebecca thinks. _If I try to attack either Doll Chimera or Alice with Tiras, I'll just end up making Doll Chimera stronger and I don't want to lose him right now! Talk about a Morton's Fork._

"I'll end it with two cards face-down," she says, reducing her hand to just one card. "And when I end my turn, Tiras has to detach one of his Overlay Materials. I hope this isn't too confusing."

"No, I'm a fast learner," Molly giggles as Rebecca sends a card to the Graveyard while one of the golden orbs surrounding Tiras shatters. She then draws a card and smiles. "I'll play Doll Hammer so I can destroy Alice, the Wandering Doll."

"What?" asks Rebecca. "Why would you destroy your doll?"

"If I destroy her, I get to draw two more cards," Molly explains, watching her Spell Card (depicting Malice Doll of Demise sitting on the floor with a small hammer in his hands) conjure a spectral hammer that slams down on Alice. "And then I can change one monster of yours into Defense Mode."

She draws two cards as another spectral hammer whacks Artifact Labrys from behind, causing it to shift to Defense Mode (1000 ATK).

 _Why go through all that trouble?_ thinks Noah, rubbing his chin. _Wait...don't tell me…_

"I'll use my newly drawn Graceful Charity to draw three new cards," Molly continues as the green dressed angel appears by her side. "Then I'll discard these two…"

She reveals them to Rebecca, showing that they are Doll Part - Pink and Doll Part - Red.

"And Doll Chimera gets even stronger!"

Rebecca flinches as the monster now gained another torso and legs, the two blue eyes of the monster staring into her soul as it grows stronger. (2400 -) 3200 ATK)

"And I'm not done," Molly continues. "I'll be equipping my monster with both Fairy Meteor Crush and Megamorph to ensure that I shatter that axe of yours!

"NOT GOOD!" Miruko screams, watching as Doll Chimera glows in a fiery pink aura and its Attack Score raises to 6400.

"Doll Chimera, destroy Artifact Labrys now!" Molly shouts.

Doll Chimera lets out a laugh as it crawls toward the defending Artifact Labrys. For a moment it looks like its two heads are _smiling_ in glee…

Then one pair of arms lifts Labrys into the air before bringing it down, causing the monster to shatter and take most of Rebecca's life points with it.

 **(Molly: 6100) - - - - - - - (Rebecca: 2100)**

"The downside is that Doll Chimera has its attack cut in half now that I have more lifepoints," Molly notes. "But, you still have to destroy it if you want to get to me, so it works."

Doll Chimera's Attack drops to 1600.

 _And Molly still has Doll Parts to spare!_ Rebecca thinks to herself. _As long as she does that, Doll Chimera will keep coming back._

She pauses as an idea strikes.

 _Wait a minute, there has to be a limit as to how many times that thing can be resurrected…_

"I draw!" says Rebecca, giving her two cards. "Tiras, attack Doll Chimera now!"

Tiras flies toward Molly's monster and slices it with his sword and destroying it, sending its Equip Spell Cards to the Graveyard along with it.

 **(Molly: 5100) - - - - - - - (Rebecca: 2100)**

And just as Rebecca predicts, Molly quickly discards two more Doll Part monsters (Doll Part - Blue and Doll Part - Pink) before Doll Chimera returns with a third additional head and pair of legs. (3200 - ) 4000 ATK)

"You just attacked me with your only monster," says Molly. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'll end my Battle Phase and activate Tiras's effect!" Rebecca answers. "When Tiras gets attacked or whenever he attacks, once the Battle Phase ends he can destroy one card you control as long as he still has an Overlay Unit attached to him!"

Molly gasps as Tiras raises his sword to the sky, the sword glowing with white energy.

"Say good-bye!" says Rebecca. "Get it, Tiras!"

Tiras lowers his sword as a bolt of lightning strikes Doll Chimera's chest (or one of them, anyway) sending it to the Graveyard again.

"And you'll bring back Doll Chimera back with your last two Doll Part monsters, correct?" asks Rebecca.

"Yep!" says Molly, sending her last Doll Part - Gold and Doll Part - Red to the Graveyard. Then she stops. "Wait, what do you mean by 'last two'?"

"You said it yourself, Molly," Rebecca answers. "Doll Chimera can be Special Summoned from the Graveyard as long as you send two Doll Part monsters to the graveyard. But in Duel Monsters, you can only have 3 copies of a certain card in your deck.

"You already sent four 'Doll Part' monsters to the Graveyard to activate Marionette Burial, then that means you could only resurrect it four more times before you can no longer use its effect. Am I right?"

"She is," Jun whispers, watching as one more set of arms and legs appears on Doll Chimera, giving it the idea of a child wanting to see what it could do with its new 'toy' (4800 ATK)

"I'll end my turn at that," says Rebecca, folding her arms over her chest.

Molly slowly draws a card.

"Um...I play Smashing Ground!" she says. "And it destroys a monster you control with the strongest Defense. Since Tiras is the only one you control…"

Tiras screams as a large fist knocks him in the gut, leaving Rebecca's field empty except for her two face-down cards.

"And, like you said, this attack isn't personal," Molly smiles. "Doll Chimera…GO!"

Doll Chimera slowly crawls to Rebecca once more, all while Rebecca grins.

"When you attacked directly, I can Special Summon Artifact Vajra from my hand and onto the field!" she says, placing her only card on her Duel Disk.

With a battle cry, a dark blue male warrior with his hair in a long ponytail emerges. In both of his hands are a pair of clubs with the top curved to a point. (1800 ATK)

"That's still not enough to save you from Doll Chimera's attack though," says Molly.

"I'm not using Vajra to defend myself," Rebecca clarifies. "When Vajra is Special Summoned on your turn, he destroys all cards in my Spell and Trap Zone. And before you ask, I set two Artifact monsters there!"

Vajra turns and strikes his weapons down on both of Rebecca's cards, the two shattering as two new warriors emerge.

"With this, I can summon Artifact Moralltach and Artifact Chakram onto the field in Attack Mode!"

A blue warrior wielding a sword similar to Beagalltach emerges to Vajra's left (2100 ATK) while a spiky haired brown warrior wielding a wheeled weapon surrounded by spikes rises from the right. (1900 ATK)

"Then I'll activate Moralltach's ability; when he's Special Summoned on your turn, he lets me destroy one card you control." Rebecca smirks. "Moralltach, destroy Doll Chimera for good!"

Morallatach's wielder leaps into the air, bringing his sword down on one of Doll Chimera's many heads before the monster lets out a scream and shatters. Rebecca's brothers cheer as Moralltach returns to his master's side.

"And since Molly has no more Doll Part monsters, it's as good as dead," Atem smirks. "What's a poor girl to do now?"

"I...I'll set this card face-down and end my turn," says Molly, reducing her hand to one card.

"I'm sorry I have to do this," says Rebecca, drawing a card. "Everyone, attack directly!"

The three Artifact monsters rush toward Molly with Vajra coming in first.

"Go, Draining Shield!" Molly shouts. "Now I'll gain life points equal to Vajra's Attack Points!"

Vajra is knocked back by a barrier surrounding Molly all while the girl sighs.

 **(Molly: 6900) - (Rebecca: 2100)**

Then Artifact Moralltach and Chakram slash at her with their weapons.

 **(Molly: 2900) - (Rebecca: 2100)**

"Then I'll set my only card face-down and end it there," says Rebecca. "You're up."

"This is the final turn, guys," sais Reiji. "If Molly can get the right cards, that's a victory for us."

"I can't believe that she even _has_ that type of monster in the first place!" says Shooti. "Jun, did she win with that deck?"

"Yeah, she did," Jun asks. "But it wasn't because of her Doll Chimera."

"What do you mean by that?" asks Noah.

"You'll see in a minute."

"I draw," says Molly. "And I'll use Pot of Greed to give me two more cards!"

The well-known grinning greed pot appears as Molly draws her two cards. Then, she smiles.

"Now, I'll be able to summon my other strongest monster!" she says. "But first, I activate Door to Mirrorland!"

Another Spell Card appears, depicting a mirror with a silver frame. In the mirror is a silhouette of a doll with glowing red eyes.

"When Alice the Wandering Doll is my Graveyard, I can use this card to Special Summon her counterpart. Go, Ecila the Lovely Bisque Doll!"

Emerging from the Spell Card is another doll, one with brown hair in a sunbonnet and a peach-colored dress trimmed with white. With rosy cheeks and a sweet smile, it seems like one of those dolls that a girl would play with. (1000 ATK)

"She's cute," Rebecca notes.

"And she has a cool effect!" says Molly. "For every complete set of Doll Part monsters in my Graveyard, she gets an additional 1000 Attack Points!"

Ecila closes her eyes as her body radiates with gold energy. (1000 -) 4000 ATK)

"That's gonna hurt…" Varon notes.

"Time to end this!" says Molly, pointing to Artifact Vajra. "Ecila, attack with Mirrorland Magic!"

Ecila raises her hand as a beam of gold energy forms. It flies toward Artifact Vajra.

"Not so fast!" says Rebecca. "I activate Artifact Sanctum!"

The face-down card flips over, revealing many Artifact weapons in what looks like a storage room. Then, a large shield with purple rings, wielded by a shaggy haired man that is the same color as the rings, emerges. (2200 DEF)

"Artifact Sanctum lets me Special Summon an 'Artifact' monster from my Deck. And when Artifact Achilleshield is summoned on your turn, you can't attack any of my 'Artifact' monsters I control for the rest of the turn. So Ecila is now going to be in checkmate soon."

"No!" Molly gasps. "D...does this mean I lose?"

"Depends on the card I draw," Rebecca says, looking at her deck. "Here goes…"

She closes her eyes and draws the card. Then, she opens them and smiles sadly.

"I just drew Hammer Shot. And it destroys the monster with the highest Attack."

Molly says nothing as a large hammer materializes over Ecila's head. She doesn't look away when the hammer destroys her monster. But Rebecca looks away as she points to her opponent.

"Artifact Chakram and Artifact Vajra…." she says. "Just make it quick!"

Both monsters turn to each other before turning to Molly. They sadly nod their heads before they rush toward Molly, striking her down with their signature weapons. Molly doesn't scream as she falls on her back and the last of her life points are taken with her.

 **(Molly: 0) - - - - - - - (Rebecca: 2100)**

"Victory goes to Rebecca," says Atem, clapping his hands as he watches the holograms vanish. "Well done, you two. I had no idea that girls of this day and age could be just as fierce as the ones in my homeland. We shall give everyone a five minute break, then round two begins."

Rebecca says nothing as she gathers her cards and walks back, where she is given a hug by Raphael, Amelda, Varon and Miruko.

"You did what you had to do," Raphael says, just as he feels Rebecca starting to cry. "It's all right."

"I feel so bad for her…" Rebecca sobbed. "It's not fair for a girl to go through that…"

"She'll be all right," says Amelda, patting her on the shoulder. "She has a family now, after all…"

Meanwhile, Molly is being hugged Reiji, Shooti, Noah and Jun, but her cries are much louder.

"I lost!" she said. "I lost against her….I couldn't do anything in the end!"

"There, there," says Reiji. "You did amazing, Molly. And it was hard to tell them your story and take that direct attack, but you were brave until the very end."

"Was I?" Molly hiccups. Reiji nods his head as Jun places a hand on her shoulder.

"You're not always going to wind them all," he says. "Besides, this was only the first round. As long as we get three victories, our mission will still be a success."

"Who's dueling next?" Molly whispers. Noah looks at his Duel Disk before looking up.

"I'm up," he says, turning his gaze toward Miruko. "And I have a pretty good idea on who I wish to duel…"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Rebecca: First duel down, four more to go.**

 **Varon: It's hard to believe all of them have tragic backstories though. They seem at peace with it all.**

 **Noah: I wasn't.**

 **Miruko: What's your story then?**

 **Noah: Like I want to tell you that.**

 **Miruko: Well, if you don't want to speak then I'm just gonna force it out of you!**

 **Amelda: I'm not gonna like where this leads. Next time, Ab Antiquo 3, "Spirit's Invitation"**

 **Atem: Let's see where this goes, then. I can sense great darkness in both of your souls after all...**


	4. Spirit's Invitation

_**Rebecca won us our first victory, and I hope to gain another easy win.**_

 _ **My name is Miruko, and, despite my boyish looks, I'm actually older than her (not that you'd notice at first glance). We're different in many ways: she's into classic cinema while I'm into children's films, she likes her hot cocoa with lots of whipped cream and a cinnamon stick while I top mine with marshmallows, her favorite book series right now is "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland" while I'm drawn to "Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children", her deck has Light Fairy-type monsters whereas I use Dark Zombies, the list goes on and any on!**_

 _ **But the biggest difference between us is that she's fully human and I am half-human.**_

 _ **How did this happen? Well, I don't want to divulge everything so early. Instead, I want to know the stories about other people...their hopes, their dreams and, most importantly, the stories they carry in their hearts.**_

 _ **Right now, I'm curious as to who I'm about to duel. I can see that he is like me in many ways...but the look in his eyes, his smile, his "head in the clouds" attitude and his...unique deck has gotten me intrigued. If it wasn't for the situation we're all in, or the way he annoys me with pointless chit-chat, maybe we could go out and have a sleepover…**_

 _ **Alas, it appears to be nothing more than a dream...**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **3rd Move**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Spirit's Invitation**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

" _When happiness eludes us - as, eventually, it always will - we have the invitation to examine our programmed responses and to exercise our power to choose again."_

 _-Richard Rohr_

Although Seto Kaiba is hard at work in his office, he can tell that something is not right.

His suspicions are correct when he sees Mokuba enter the room, not even bothering to close the door behind him, as the boy states, "You felt that, didn't you?"

"Felt what, exactly?" asks Seto.

"This dark presence…" Mokuba explains. "But more importantly, what exactly did you mean about Bel's vision about that pyramid and the eye...at Yugi's house no less?"

Seto stays quiet as Mokuba closes the door behind him and approaches the desk. There is silence as the older Kaiba lets out a sigh.

"I didn't want to tell you this until my theory was right…" Seto begins. "But I've been hearing rumors from the _Chasing Shadows_ blog…"

"You actually follow that?" Mokuba raises an eyebrow. The blog documents the various sightings of strange and abnormal things that happen in the city of Domino alongside having an extensive archive of mysterious artifacts, an encyclopedia of Duel Monster lore, and numerous articles regarding the history of those who continued to chase these shadows. It is mostly frequented by various people who either have too much time on their hands or are inclined to the supernatural...

Seto, as far as Mokuba knows, does not fit in either of those camps.

"I do," Seto answers back. "And it says that the Domino City museum is gaining some new relics for the Ancient Egypt exhibit."

"And how does that fit with the vision?"

Seto sighs before he turns his computer monitor to his brother, revealing the image of a stone tablet carved with various hieroglyphics. Mokuba stares at it in awe...it depicts images of various Duel Monsters, and on one side there is a priest that looks similar to his big brother with the Blue Eyes White Dragon above the priest's head. On the opposite side is an image of Yugi with an image of the Dark Magician by his side…

And he is wearing a strange inverted pyramid with an eye in its center.

"This tablet shows a battle between the Pharaoh against his rival and cousin, a High Priest capable of controlling the powers of the White Dragons," Seto begins. "And it is said that the Pharaoh was sealed away after their battle...sealed within the confines of what the forums are calling the 'Millennium Puzzle'."

"And this is important, _why_?"

"Because if Yugi did manage to solve it, he will unleash the Pharaoh from his slumber and…"

" _And_?" At that, Seto stays quiet before he flips the monitor around, moves his mouse to load another picture, turns the monitor back to his brother and watches Mokuba's eyes grow in alarm before he speaks.

"Yugi will have to complete the binding ritual between them by fusing his soul to that of Dragon King Atum...just like the Pharaoh fused with the soul of Dark Horus three thousand years ago."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Miruko looks through his deck all while trying to ignore the looks from both the Dark Pharaoh staring at him with a look of curiosity on his face…

And from Noah who is giving him a grin worthy of a Cheshire cat.

"Why is he smiling like that?" Miruko whispers to Varon. Varon shrugs his shoulders.

"Maybe he wants to challenge you," he suggests. "I mean, maybe he'll show that deck Molly mentioned in her duel."

"I bet she's lying…" Miruko stares at the cards in his deck before slipping them back into his Duel Disk. "Who would want a Wonderland deck in the first place?"

"Maybe it's related to how he died," says Amelda. He watches Molly give a hug to Noah before Noah, still with that cat-like smile on his face, walks toward the center of the throne room. "Wouldn't you like to know what his story is?"

" _I_ would like to know more about _him_ ," Raphael grunts, noticing how Yugi is now sitting in Atem's lap, the young boy somehow staring into the Pharaoh's bloody red eyes with a look of...what is the word...Curiosity? Wonder? Awe?

No, it is if the boy is mesmerised...entranced by this demon to not even cry out for help.

Rebecca can sense this too, and in no time she rushes toward Yugi to save him. Reiji nudges Molly and the girl concentrates, unleashing a multitude of red strings from her hands that entangle Rebecca's legs and causes her to trip with a thud.

"What the…" Rebecca notes, seeing the red strings around her. She turns to see Molly shyly hiding behind Reiji. "Molly, what are you…"

"Oh…" Atem purrs, momentarily taking his eyes off of Yugi to see Rebecca struggling to break free of her bindings. "Seems someone is mad about her loss."

"What the hell are you doing to Yugi?!" Rebecca shouts, not caring that she is cursing in front of Molly. Raphael is already at her side, pulling the strings off of his little sister as Molly steps back. "Were you trying to seduce him for your dark fantasies or something?"

"Who knows?" Atem chuckles. "But remember that you are still stuck with me until one side wins three duels. **You** have already claimed victory but there are four more rounds to this fight." As he says this, he notices Yugi slowly falling asleep, leaning forward so the boy's forehead rests against his chest, hiding the symbol of an eye that is now on there from everyone else. "Don't worry about the two of us; we're still paying attention to these duels of yours.

"And now, who shall be the next combatants?"

"It will be me versus...Miruko, was it?" asks Noah while Miruko also approaches the center. Raphael, finished with freeing Rebecca from the strings, carries her back to their side as Miruko watches Noah draw five cards.

"So…" Miruko begins. "If all of you are dead...how exactly did you…"

"That is absolutely none of your business," Noah interrupts. His smile is gone now, and his eyes become cold. When Miruko says nothing, Noah continues. "If everyone minded their own business, the world would go around a deal faster than it does."

"Sorry…" Miruko mutters, not liking his opponent's change of attitude. "I mean, I just wanted to know a bit more about you and all. Like, for example, I'm a big fan of the Dyna-Dude series and my favorite hobbies include-"

"I don't care." Noah interrupts. It feels like someone has flipped a switch on him. Miruko frowns.

"What is wrong with you?" he says. "Fine, if you don't want to be friendly with me, how about we up the ante a bit? Whoever loses the duel has to spill their life story, no ifs, ands or buts about it. We have a deal?"

"Whatever," Noah answers with a shrug of his shoulders. Then, that playful smile appears on his face. "So will you join this dance with me, boy?"

"I'm actually older than you, first off," Miruko replies. "And sure, why not? I do have one warning for you, though…

"Beware, take care, because the freaks come out...at night!"

As he says this, a dark wind blows throughout the room as Miruko flashes a grin quick enough so that everyone can see his fangs. Jun flinches.

"Why do I feel like he wants to eat us?" he mutters while both duelists activate their Duel Disks.

 **(Noah: 8000) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 8000)**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"You must be joking," says Mokuba, trying to process the information his brother has given him. " **That's** what you found out?"

"I never joke, Mokuba," Seto answers. Mokuba just snarls.

"You have been acting very weird lately, you know that? I find it hard to believe that you follow a blog in supernatural sightings or follow news on archaeological finds that _just so happens_ to have images of you and Yugi on them, not to mention what you did with the Bound Scepter and Jounochi…" Mokuba clenches his teeth. "I just don't know what to think about it all. And, you know, something else has been bugging me…"

"Like how your girlfriend is obsessed with her fantasies of Katsuya and I?"

"First off, Serena is a 'girl buddy' and second of all, that thing with those 'Dark Signers' and how Siegfried was called a 'Crimson Signer'..." Mokuba pauses momentarily before saying, "Aside from Bel, I saw Jun, Shooti and Noah there too...but it's weird."

Although he doesn't show it, the elder brother is taken aback by his brother's words. ,"What do you mean by 'weird', exactly?"

"When I looked at Noah...I felt a connection to him…" Mokuba briefly places a hand over his heart. "It's like we met before...I get that feeling at school, too. He...he seems so sad though…like he wants to say something important to me, but can't."

Seto stays quiet, closing his eyes as he tries to figure out the right words to say. He knows that, deep down, he cannot keep these secrets from his brother forever. Mokuba has to know the truth. The last time Seto tried to save his brother by not giving him the full story, it nearly ended with Mokuba trapped in a nightmare forever.

Letting out a long sigh, the CEO opens his eyes.

"Sit down, Mokuba," he says. "This is a bit of a long story…"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"I'll take the first move," says Noah, drawing a card. "And I'll start off by summoning Alice, the Warden of Wonderland in Attack Mode!"

Miruko watches as Alice appears. She is an older Alice with long blond hair, wearing her black bow and traditional blue dress with white pinafore, but she also grips a hunting knife in her hand with an expression on her face that reveals that she is pissed. (1300 ATK)

"And next, I'll take us down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland itself! Are you ready?"

Playing the Field Spell Card, he smirks as the ballroom transforms into a whimsical world of a bright forest with toadstools big and small rising from the ground to form tables and stools for the audience and, off in the distance, one can see various landmarks of Wonderland itself. There are even plates of strawberry heart-shaped tarts and cups of tea to snack on.

"So, what exactly does this place do?" Miruko asks, watching his siblings seat themselves down.

"It's simple," Noah answers. "Once per turn, we can choose one Dark monster that is Level 4 or lower and can either double their attack but destroy them at the end of the turn we use the effect or cut their attack in half so they can attack directly."

"Pretty cool...wait, are you saying that the whimsical characters of Wonderland are of _dark attribute_?" Miruko flashes a look at Alice then to his own deck. "I highly doubt that was what Lewis Carroll had in mind when he wrote that book."

"But consider that Wonderland is a dream Alice made up. And when does one usually have their dreams?"

"At night. But wasn't Alice taking a nap in the _afternoon_ when the story takes place?"

"The world of dreams is filled with dark and twisted things; after all _everyone's_ mad in Wonderland." Noah answers with his mouth turned up into a cat-like grin. Miruko groans.

"But that doesn't mean you can categorize all of the Wonderland monsters as Dark...unless that's part of your confidential backstory and all."

Then Noah stays quiet, his eyes darkening to a look similar to one that Alice currently sports. His lips turn pale like the color of his skin.

"I'll pretend you never said that," he hisses, playing two cards face-down.

"Looks like someone is sensitive…" Atem notes, pouring a cup of tea for himself. Taking a sip, he is interested in its unique flavor (seeing as tea isn't something an Egyptian Pharaoh would ever have a chance to drink) as he adds, "I wonder where this will lead."

"My move," says Miruko, drawing his card. "And I'll start with my Everliving Underworld Cannon!"

A Continuous Spell Card depicting a cannon constructed out of bones from various creatures firing a shot in the form of a spectral skull appears. Varon chuckles to himself upon seeing it.

"Looks like Miruko is gonna perform his famous combo," he remarks. "How long do you think it will take before Noah can find a way to destroy it?"

"As much time as it takes for you to get up in the morning?" Raphael suggests.

"Hey!"

"And next," Miruko continues. "I'll play Call of the Mummy to let me Special Summon a Zombie-type monster from my hand as long as I have no monsters on the field. So I'll start off with this one…"

The Continuous Spell Card of mummies crawling out of a myriad of sarcophagi emerges. Then, rising from a portal of darkness is a coffin. When it opens, there appears the handsome, slender blue-haired, Vampire Lord dressed in a silk suit and dark cape who grins at his prey. (2000 ATK)

"Vampires?" Noah questions. "Didn't peg you as someone who likes those things."

"That's part of _my_ backstory, in case you're wondering," Miruko snarks back.

Vampire Lord licks the tips of his fangs while Alice tightens the grip on her hunting knife.

"Creepy…" Molly notes. Then she notices Miruko's Everliving Underworld Cannon glowing. "Wait, what's going on with that card?"

"Oh this?" asks Miruko. "Well, whenever I Special Summon a Zombie-type monster, I can inflict 800 points of damage to Noah's lifepoints once per turn!"

The cannon fires a blast of energy that strikes Noah's Duel Disk.

 **(Noah: 7200) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 8000)**

"And as for Normal Summons," Miruko continues. "I'll summon Vampire Sorcerer onto the field in Attack Mode!"

Rising onto Miruko's side of the field is another vampire, dressed in a purple studded robe with red trim. His weapon of choice is a staff with a bat-shaped topper and inlaid with a large ruby, alongside his belt and pointed hat that covers a head of white hair. (1500 ATK)

"And, seeing as you only have one monster against mine, I can see that Alice won't be with us much longer.

"Now Vampire Lord, it's feeding time!"

Vampire Lord smiles at Alice as he glides towards the younger girl. But just as he is about to drink, Noah smiles.

"I activate my Trap Card, Dark Spirit of the Silent!" he exclaims. "And with this card, I can negate your Vampire Lord's attack and have Vampire Sorcerer attack instead."

The Trap card, depicting a skeleton covered in a red aura, projects a barrier that prevents Vampire Lord from attacking. Then, Vampire Sorcerer prepares his spell, the ruby on his scepter giving off an ominous glow.

"So you only lose 200 lifepoints, big deal," says Miruko.

."You're right, this _is_ a big deal," Noah replies. "Because now I activate my other face-down card, Enchanted Mushroom!"

A curious Quickplay Spell Card appears, depicting a black and white illustration from _Alice in Wonderland_ -that of Tenniel's sketch of Alice meeting the Caterpillar.

"Huh?" Is the only thing Miruko can say as Noah smirks.

"When I play this card, I select a Level 4 monster I control, then I choose one card from your hand and declare whether it's a Monster, Spell or Trap," Noah explains. "If I call it right, Alice has her Attack Points doubled. If not, her Attack Points are halved instead."

"I only have two cards though," says Miruko, holding his hand up in front of him. "Which one do you choose?"

"I choose the one on the left...and it's…" Noah pauses, staring into Miruko's eyes before stating, "A Spell Card!"

Miruko's eyes widen as he shows the card (Book of Life) before Alice starts growing taller and taller until her head hits the ceiling twenty feet later. (1300 -) 2600 ATK)

"Oh hell…" Miruko mumbles.

Alice wastes no time in raising her foot and brings it down on Vampire Sorcerer, squashing him flat.

 **(Noah: 7200) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 6900)**

"When Vampire Sorcerer is sent from the field to the graveyard," says Miruko. "I can take a Monster, Spell or Trap card with the name 'Vampire' from my deck to my hand."

He searches his deck, finds the card, then slips the deck back in.

"Then I'm gonna end this turn with one card face-down," Miruko ends as he watches Alice shrink down to her normal size. "You're up."

"Ah, is someone afraid of little old Wonderland?" Noah asks mockingly, drawing a card. "You should. I summon Alice's guide, the Cheshire Cat onto the field in Defense Mode!"

What appears first is a large floating grin, then the head and, finally, a body of a tabby cat. (1800 DEF)

"And because he helps Alice-"

"Not in Walt Disney's version," Rebecca remarks. Noah scowls at her.

"Because he _sometimes_ helps Alice," Noah begins again. "He gives her a 700 Attack Point boost while he's on the field."

Alice drops to her knees and pets the dear Cheshire puss, who purrs in delight. (1300 -) 2000 ATK)

"So Alice can now go toe-to-toe with my Vampire Lord," Miruko notes with a sigh. "You know, for someone with a unique deck like this, I was expecting a lot...more. This duel will be a piece of cake."

And it is this statement that makes Noah's blood boil (well, if it can). In an instant, a purple-black aura manifests around him and his eyes flicker to a shade of black like a soul filled with sin. Atem, just about to take a bite out of a tart, pauses.

"'Piece of cake', you say?!" Noah shouts. "You should know that I have been victorious with this deck back when I ruled Wonderland."

"In your dreams…" Miruko mutters. "Had no idea that Wonderland existed in reality."

"You don't know lots of things," Noah replies, quoting the Duchess. "That's a fact."

"I know that you and your friends were resurrected and now belong to a cult."

"The Dark Signers are _not a cult_!" Jun exclaims, ready to pounce and only stopped by Shooti grabbing his arm.

"And I know that you have some weird obsession with a children's book, considering the types of cards I've seen so far," Miruko continues. "And I know that _I'll_ be the one who wins this duel because of my 'Resurrection Firepower' combo as I call it." He smirks. "That enough for you?"

Noah growls as he plays a Spell Card, Rush Recklessly, and watches Alice's attack score rise to 2700.

"Off with his head!" He commands.

Alice rushes toward Vampire Lord and leaves a long gash through his neck, causing the monster to shatter.

 **(Noah: 7200) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 6200)**

"And with that," Miruko says with a grin. "I activate my Trap Card, Blood Curse!"

The Trap Card lifts, depicting a rotting hand emerging from a coffin.

"When you sent Vampire Lord to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower 'Vampire' monster from my deck. And the one I choose is my second Vampire Sorcerer!*

The Trap Card vanishes and in its place is the second Vampire Sorcerer. (1200 DEF)

"And you know what that means…"

Noah does as Everliving Underworld Cannon fires another shot.

 **(Noah: 6400) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 6200)**

"I'll end my turn at that," Noah spits out.

"What is Miruko doing?" asks Shooti, watching Miruko draw then subsequently play Card of Sanctity so that they both draw till they have six cards (Miruko draws four more cards, Noah five). "It's like he _wants_ Noah to be angry."

"There's an old adage that says, 'Anger makes you stupid.'" says Reiji. "Miruko is deliberately pushing Noah's buttons to see him mess up." He smiles sadly. "Trust me on this, anger is a terrible emotion to be blinded by."

"And now, I'll Banush the Vampire Sorcerer in my graveyard so I can Summon Shadow Vampire on the field without tribute," says Miruko.

A card ejects from Miruko's graveyard as he slaps a card down on the Duel Disk. Rising from the ground is a vampire that seems to blend with the shadows themselves, glaring at Noah with fierce crimson eyes. (2000 ATK).

"When Shadow Vampire is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Dark 'Vampire' monster from my deck with no additional cost." Miruko grins. "And the monster I choose is Vampire's Curse!"

Another coffin rises before opening to reveal a new Vampire with similar turquoise hair and frame like that of Vampire Lord with muscular arms and sharp claws. But that's where the similarities end. Whereas Vampire Lord looks quite pretty with soft facial features for a vampire, Vampire's Curse has a face that is angular. And while Vampire Lord dresses in a dark black suit, Vampire's Curse dresses in midnight blue with a purple chestplate, and wears a cape that turns out to be a pair of large red bat-like wings that are folded behind his back. (2000 ATK)

Meanwhile, Everliving Underworld Cannon fires a third shot.

 **(Noah: 5600) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 6200)**

"And now, Vampire Curse, attack with Scourge of Death!"

Vampire Curse swoops toward his prey and slices it with one swift movement, causing The Cheshire Cat to disintegrate with a yowl all while Alice's attack score drops back to 1300. Noah raises an eyebrow.

"Not going to go after Alice?" he asks.

"I can't," Miruko answers. "When I activate Shadow Vampire's effect, the Monster that's Special Summoned is the only monster that attacks this turn.

"But I'm not done yet. I'll play Book of Life to resurrect Vampire Lord by Banishing your Cheshire Cat from the grave."

"Good move!" says Rebecca. "Miruko eliminated a monster that gives Alice a boost!"

The Spell Card of a book marked with hieroglyphics appears. The soul of the Cheshire Cat is sucked into it before Vampire Lord rises from the floor, wings outstretched. (2000 ATK)

"But he's not staying for long," Miruko chuckles. "Because I'm unleashing the Overlay Network with Shadow Vampire and Vampire Lord to Xyz Summon my all-mighty Crimson Knight Vampire Bram!"

The two Vampires leap into a portal above their heads before a new Vampire emerges in a dark purple armor trimmed with red over a skeletal figure with white hair and glowing red eyes. In his hand is a black flamberge with a bat-shaped hilt. (2500 ATK)

"So scary!" Molly screams, hiding behind Reiji. Bram just laughs in response.

"And that's where I'll end my turn," says Miruko.

 _Of all the cards in my hand,_ none _of them is a Mystical Space Typhoon?_ Noah thinks as he draws a card. _Time for me to take a gamble…_

"I play my Spell Card, Reasoning!" says Noah. "Now you have to declare a number and I send cards to the graveyard until I find a monster. If it's level equals that number, it gets sent to the grave. If not, I Special Summon it with no additional cost.

"So, what's it gonna be?"

"Easy," Miruko answers. "I choose 4."

As Noah's Spell Card appears (depicting a man in a green robe and turban pointing to a card), Noah begins to send cards to the graveyard (grimacing when the first card he draws _is_ his Mystical Space Typhoon) until he reaches the fourth one. Then, he laughs.

"Sorry, Miruko," he says. "But my Level 7 Jabberwocky would like to have a word with you!"

Miruko gasps as he sees the monster. It is a dragon with a flat face and beady eyes on a serpentine neck, a pear-shaped torso that is wearing a vest, along with long limbs ending in wicked claws. (2600 ATK)

"He acts as Alice's bodyguard," Noah explains. "If you want to attack her, you have to go through him.

"And next is my Normal Summon, so I summon Humpty Dumpty on the field in Attack Mode!"

The famous egg man if the same Nursery rhyme, dressed as a British nobleman, appears with a smile on his face. (2300 ATK)

"And then, I'll equip Alice with the Vorpal Blade, which gives her an additional 800 Attack Points!"

Alice's hunting knife is soon replaced with a more powerful two-handed sword. (1300 -) 2100 ATK)

"Oh no…" says Miruko. "Your monsters are so _strong_ now...they can snuff out Vampire's Curse with a single swipe! Please, don't destroy him!"

Amelda rolls his eyes at his brother's melodrama; he's seen Miruko pull this trick before.

"Too late to beg," says Noah. "He goes down right now! Humpty Dumpty, attack!"

Humpty Dumpty rushes towards Vampire's Curse and socks him in the face while Miruko watches his lifepoints drop.

 **(Noah: 5600) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 5900)**

"No, not Vampire's Curse!" Miruko exclaims. "He...he…"

He looks in horror for a few seconds before he cracks a smile.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

 **(Noah: 5600) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 5400)**

"What's so funny?!" asks Noah. Miruko gasps for air before he unleashes a wicked grin and exposes his sharp fangs as Vampire's Curse rises behind the laughing boy and bites his neck.

"I _wanted_ you to destroy Vampire's Curse," Miruko answers as Vampire's Curse disappears from the field. "Because, by doing so, I can offer 500 lifepoints to Special Summon him on my Standby Phase. Plus, by using that effect, he gains an additional 500 lifepoints!"

"Oh no!" Shooti gasps. "That means Noah is going to lose another 800 lifepoints unless he can shut off that combo."

"Yep!"

Noah is seething with anger at this point all while Atem bursts into laughter alongside Miruko. Meanwhile, cracks appear on Humpty Dumpty's body and he kneels in Defense Mode. (0 DEF)

"Huh?" asks Rebecca. "What happened to him?"

"After he attacks, Humpty Dumpty has to stay in Defense Mode until the end of my next turn, and can only change position through card effects," Noah explains.

"It's just a sitting duck them," Miruko notes before breaking down into laughter once again. "Tell me, did your time in Wonderland render you unable to tell when you've been utterly _fooled_?"

The Dark Signer Acolytes share frightened looks while Noah clenches a hand into a fist. At this point, he has all the justification to kill that snarky and nosy Vampire duelist where he stood.

"...Jabberwocky," Noah states in a strained voice. "Destroy Vampire Sorcerer now!"

The dragon wastes no time in unleashing a blast of fire that incinerates the vampire. Meanwhile, Miruko pulls his deck out and searches for a particular card before slipping his deck back into his Duel Disk.

"And I'll cut Alice's attack in half so you can feel her Vorpal Blade go snicker-snack! Get him!"

Alice nods her head (2100 -) 1050 ATK) as she races past Crimson Knight Vampire Bram and slices Miruko with two powerful strikes before walking back to Noah's side if the field.

 **(Noah: 5600) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 4350)**

"Is it just me," Raphael notes, taking a bite out of a second tart. "Or did that last remark hit a little too close to home for Noah?"

"Hard to tell," Amelda answers. "But Miruko might want to stop acting so smug before he slips up."

"All righty then," says Miruko, drawing a card. "And with that, Vampire's Curse returns!"

The vampire does just that, stronger than ever. (2500 ATK)

Then, the Everliving Underworld Cannon fires again. This time, Noah screams.

 **(Noah: 4800) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 4350)**

"This is getting annoying!" he shouts. "If you keep using that, I'm gonna go mad!"

"Then I'm sure you'll fit right in with your friends in Wonderland," Miruko remarks. "After all, you're _all_ mad there."

"Oooh…." says Varon. Noah just grits his teeth as Miruko slips Hammer Shot into his Duel Disk.

"It may not be a sword but I think my Spell Card gets the job done," Miruko chuckles.

An oversized wooden hammer materializes over the Jabberwocky before it slams the dragon into pixels.

"And here comes my Crimson Knight's special ability! By detaching an Xyz Material, I get to Special Summon a monster from your graveyard into the field. So...can you guess which one I want?"

Noah's eyes widen as Crimson Knight Vampire Bram plants his sword to the floor and Miruko slips a card to the graveyard. Then, the Jabberwocky rises and roars at Alice, who us more than ready to strike back. (2600 ATK)

"Of course," says Miruko. "By using this effect, the Jabberwocky is the only monster that can attack this turn. Oh well."

The Jabberwocky opens its mouth and prepares to unleash a stream of fire at Alice. Noah smiles.

"I activate my Trap Card, Out Like a Candle!" he exclaims.

A new card appears, another of Tenniel's illustrations that shows Alice standing before a table, examining a bottle with a label that says "DRINK ME", in black and white.

"I don't like the looks of that…" Miruko mutters.

"You should be afraid," says Noah. "If I offer one monster on the field, like Humpty Dumpty…"

Humpty Dumpty soon shatters.

"Then I can permanently decrease the attack strength of The Jabberwocky equal to Humpty Dumpty's original attack score. If said Jabberwocky had his attack drop to 0, then he's destroyed. But having him reduced enough for Alice to slay it works too."

Soon, white kid gloves appear around Noah's hands, and a fan materializes in his grip. Noah begins to fan himself as The Jabberwocky shrinks and shrinks until he is even smaller than Alice. (2600 -) 300 ATK)

Alice wastes no time to kill her weakened prey as Miruko's lifepoints drop significantly.

 **(Noah: 4800) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 2550)**

Miruko snarls before slipping a new card into his Duel Disk before signaling the end of his turn. Noah draws his card.

"I start by summoning the Mouse with a Long Tail in Defense Mode," he begins.

A new monster appears on Noah's side of the firld; a...mouse with brown fur and a tail so long that it has a knot or two. (2000 DEF)

Miruko turns to Rebecca. "Where does he show up again?"

"Alice asks him if he likes cats in the second chapter then tries to dry everyone drowning in the Vale of Tears with his history before they decide to enact a Caucus Race in the third one," Rebecca answers.

"Ah…."

"And next," Noah continues. "I play my Spell Card, Eighth Square Promotion!"

Another Spell Card with one of Tenniell's illustrations appears. This time the illustration shows Alice kneeling in the grass with her hands gripping the rim of a large crown on her head. Then, Alice herself begins to glow.

"This card needs me to offer one Alice, Warden of Wonderland and half of my lifepoints," Noah explains. "But with that cost, I can coronate dear Alice into her true form. So rise Alice Liddell, as I pronounce you as Alice, Queen of Mirrorland!"

 **(Noah: 2400) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 2550)**

The Spell Card transforms into a beautiful crown that floats onto Alice's head. Then, a collection of golden sparkles gently shower down on her as her hunting knife grows into a gold ornate staff topped with the head of a horse, her traditional blue dress with white pinafore now an elegant gown with red and white squares trailing the bottom of the skirt and her hair topped with a crown bejeweled with rubies and diamonds. (2400 ATK)

As Alice turns to stare at Noah, the boy looks back with a pang of sadness in his unbeating heart before he sets his sight back in the duel.

"Okay…" Miruko begins. "What type of effect does she have?"

"Alice rules over all subjects in Mirrorland," Nish begins. "Translating that into Duel Monsters terms, by banishing a Dark monster in my graveyard, once during my Main Phase each turn I can increase Queen Alice's attack equal to that of the offered monster's. So, three guesses who I choose. And the first two don't count."

A spectral image of said Jabberwocky spins round and round Alice as she experiences a significant power boost. (2400 -) 5000 ATK)

 _That's a genius move!_ Miruko thinks to himself. _This way I won't be able to use Bram's effect on it or summon Vampire Sheridan if possible. If only I wasn't on the receiving end of it._

"Attack, Queen Alice!* commands Noah. "Attack with Queenly Might!"

Alice raises her staff in the air, the horse head growing larger and larger until it resembles an oversized hammer that (despite looking too heavy for her) she brings down and slams onto the head of Crimson Knight Vampire Bram. There is a cloud of smoke that obscures everyone's vision.

"Well," says Noah as he makes out Bram disintegrating into pixels. "With that over I can now talk of many things. Of ships and sails and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have-"

"Emergency Provisions?" A voice interrupts.

The smoke fades away and Noah notices how Miruko now has neither his Call of the Mummy nor Everliving Underworld Cannon in the field, and as for his lifepoints...

 **(Noah: 2400) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 2050)**

"What?!" Noah exclaims. "How did you…"

Miruko just shows his Emergency Provisions card and smirks. "Always come prepared for any situation." he says. "Really? Did you honestly think I wasn't going to see something like that coming?"

Noah bites his bottom lip as he slaps his last two cards in his hand face-down.

"This is getting intense!" Jun comments, pouring himself another cup of tea. "And to think it's only Round 2!"

"And it's my move," says Miruko, drawing a card. "And now, my Crimson Knight returns to the field!"

The purple armored vampire rises from the floor, snarling at Queen Alice with his sword pointed at her. (0 DEF)

"How is that possible?" asks Molly. "You didn't play any cards for him."

"I don't need to," Miruko answers. "When he gets sent to the graveyard during my opponent's turn, he comes back to the field, albeit in Defense Mode.

"But he's not fighting alone. I Banish my second Vampire Sorcerer so I can Summon the monster I got from him...come forth Vampire Red Baron!"

As Miruko takes the second Vampire Sorcerer out from his graveyard, the sound of a galloping horse is heard from the path leading to the Castle of the Queen of Hearts and a crimson moon rises in the now dark skies of Wonderland. The figure is encased in black armor with dull gold trim and red gems wielding a large lance of the same coloration in his right hand, a black tattered cape glowing in the wind. His helmet is modeled after a Roman gladiator with a red plume to match. The vampire's steed is a charcoal color with armor matching its owner along with a blood red mane and tail and ruby eyes. The hellish horse snorts and reveals its blood stained teeth. (2400 ATK)

"So...spooky?" Molly says confused. She likes ponies (and watches _My Little Pony_ : _Friendship is Magic_ like it's Sunday mass) but doesn't know what to think of a vampire steed.

Miruko chuckles. "He is. But wait till you see his special ability. And just to ensure that I have Alive dethroned…"

Miruko plays Rush Recklessly as the horse rises onto his hind legs and neighs. (2400 -) 3100 ATK)

"Now my Baron, skewer Queen Alice with Blood Red Lance!"

Vampire Red Baron and his horse gallops towards the Queen and swiftly thrusts his spear into her stomach, causing Alice to drop to her knees before shattering.

 **(Noah: 1700) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 2050)**

"And Vampire's Curse, feed on that rat!"

Vampire's Curse disappears into the shadows before materialising behind the mouse and sinks his fangs into its flesh.

"My monsters may be gone, but not for long," says Noah, activating his face-down Miracle's Wake.

However, he looks in surprise to only find the Mouse with a Long Tail back on his side of the field (2000 DEF) while Alice, Queen of Mirrorland (2400 ATK) rises onto Miruko's!

"Oh," says Miruko. "I forgot to mention that whenever Vampire Red Baron destroys a monster in battle, once the Battle Phase ends, all monsters he destroyed onto my side of the field. Hope you weren't _too_ attached to her."

And the Dark Acolytes looked like a bomb was about to go off as Noah unleashes a scream that echoes throughout Wonderland.

"Do you not know that you are being absolutely _insensitive_ right now?!" Noah exclaims. "If you knew just how much I went through…"

"I will once I win this duel," Miruko notes. "And, seriously, if you're so hurt with just simple trash talk, I hate to see how you would react to someone _deliberately_ breaking you down by talking."

Noah stays quiet as Miruko signals the end of his turn before drawing a card, carefully inspecting it. This could work, but he needs to stall for time.

"I play Card of Demise to let me draw until I a hand of five cards," he says. "But after my 4th Standby Phase of using this card, I must send my hand to the graveyard."

"You're that desperate, aren't you?" Miruko asks as Noah draws his cards.

Noah just snarls. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say. I sacrifice my Mouse with the Long Tail to summon Heart Guard in Defense Mode!"

The mouse vanishes and in his place is a monster seemingly made from a playing card—nothing more than a two of hearts with a little head topped with red along with thin arms and legs whose weapon is a spear tipped with a heart symbol. (1000 DEF)

" _That's_ a monster?" Miruko exclaims. "You sacrifice your monster for _that?_ You are seriously mad right now."

"Am I?" asks Noah, his Cheshire Cat smile returning as he plays one card face-down.

"Noah is getting snarky now," Shooti comments. "I can't tell if that's good or bad."

"I think I can see what Noah is planning," says Reiji with a smirk. "It's already the endgame."

"My move," says Miruko, drawing a card. He grins, revealing a shark-like smile. "Let me get things ready."

Noah grimaces as he watches Crimson Knight Vampire Bram stand up, sword ready. (2500 ATK)

"Now my monster," Miruko chuckles as he points to the shivering guard. "Off with his head!"

Bram nods his head before he swoops towards the lowly guard and slices its head clean off. Noah just chuckles.

"Thank you for that," he says as Miruko looks quite vexed. "Now that you destroyed Heart Guard, I can summon his compatriots Club Guard, Spade Guard and Diamond Guard in Defense Mode!"

Three monster zones glow as three monsters that resemble Heart Guard appear, except they are the three of clubs, the four of spades, and the five of diamonds, and their spears are tipped with the symbols of their respective suits. (500 DEF x 3)

"So you have a shield," says Miruko. "I have three monsters ready to tear them apart."

And that's exactly what they do.

"And with that," Miruko continues as he plays a face-down card. "I end my turn. Good luck, Noah. You're gonna need it."

"I don't need luck," says Noah, drawing a card. "I have all the cards I need to finish this off. I play Queen's Invitation!"

A Spell Card, depicting another Tenniel illustration, this one of the Fish Footman handing an oversized envelope to the Frog Footman, appears. Miruko gulps.

"I can only use this card when I have 'Heart Guard', 'Club Guard', 'Spade Club' and 'Diamond Guard' in my graveyard. And when that happens, I can Banish them all to Special Summon the indisputable ruler of Wonderland, Her Majesty, The Queen of Hearts!"

The Spell Card vanishes while Noah takes the four monsters out of the graveyard, and in its place is an elegant figure of royalty. She wears a red dress decorated with symbols of playing cards. Her shoulder-length hair is black as a raven and her weapon is a scepter topped with a ruby heart. (3400 ATK)

"And just to make sure she gets her prey, I activate Shrink to cut the attack of Vampire Red Baron in half!"

Miruko gasps as his horse riding Vampire shrinks to half his size, the smaller horse whinnying in alarm. (2400 -) 1200 ATK)

"Get him with Red Heart Blast!" Noah commands.

The Queen charges up an attack as Miruko goes,"Not so fast! I activate Sakuretsu Armor to destroy your…"

Miruko stops when he sees his Trap Card shatter into pixels. "Wh...what did you just do?"

Noah smiles as he reveals his face-down card. "I activated my face-down card, Trap Jammer! And with this card, you have no defense against my Queen's attack. So, with the duel almost done, do you have any last words?"

"Um…" Miruko stammers out. "Maybe I shouldn't have underestimated the power of Wonderland, huh?"

"Glad you see things my way," Noah chuckles. "Now, my Queen…" he points at a sweating Vampire Red Baron and shouts,

"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!"

The Queen laughs as her ruby scepter begins to glow. Then she raises it into the air before bringing it down, unleashing a blast of crimson magic that oblitrates the vampire on his noble steed taking all of Miruko's lifepoints with him.

 **(Noah: 1700) - - - - - - - (Miruko: 0)**

"Victory goes to Noah," says Atem, watching the holograms of monsters and Wonderland fade away. "And, as promised, Miruko must explain his life story for us all."

"Now that was a duel!" says Shooti, watching as Noah returns to their side. "I wish I had my video camera for this!"

Miruko groans as he gathers the cards in his graveyard and Duel Disk, all while he sees Noah smile with that annoying cat grin as if he has successfully caught a tasty mouse for dinner. Then, Miruko hears the sound of someone clapping.

"That was a pretty close duel!" Jun shouts, cupping his hands to magnify his already loud voice. "You did a good job back there!"

"Thanks," Miruko mutters before standing up. He turns to his siblings, afraid of the scolding he is going to get over his near victory, but a smile from Amelda calms him down. Rebecca approaches him, knowing just what he is about to tell.

"You don't have to do this," she says, eyes filled with concern. "Are you sure?"

"I have to keep my word," Miruko replies, briefly staring at a card (Vampire Lord) before slipping it back into his Duel Disk. "And besides, it means that neither Amelda nor Varon will have to tell it later." He turns around, noticing how everyone is waiting for him to tell his history. "Now then, where do I begin?"

"Begin from the beginning," Noah answers, once again quoting from _Alice in Wonderland_. "And go till you reach the end: then stop."

"Okay," Miruko takes a deep breath as everyone stares at him. "Here goes…

"Amelda and I were raised by our mom in a small city in Spain...until a war broke out, that is. The last we saw of her, she was standing her ground against some soldiers while the two of us went through a secret passage to one of the underground tunnels that lead to the church."

"What happened to your father?" asks Molly, knowing what it's like to lose one's parents, and trying her hardest not to think about her daddy.

Miruko shrugs his shoulders. "Mom never talked about him," he explains. "And so the two of us stayed in the church because it's the last place anyone would find us. That's where we met Varon…"

Varon just waves to everyone.

"And the three of us did our best to gather supplies for other survivors after that. It helps that Varon is good at distracting the soldiers, I'm light on my feet, and Amelda can fashion bombs and makeshift traps from just about anything.

"One day, I was unable to make the rounds due to catching a cold from an unexpected storm. So Amelda decided to gather provisions this time…

"And it's because he took my place that we became...this."

"Miruko," Amelda growls. "Don't you dare…"

Miruko ignores his brother and takes another deep breath as the shadows swirl around his body, his eyes darkening to a shade of crimson and the shadows coalesce into a pair of black wings on his back. His ears become pointy and his teeth form into sharp fangs ready to tear into someone's flesh.

"You're a _vampire_?" asks Shooti, fumbling for his camera then recalling that it's back at the Manor. "I wish I had my camera on me…"

"Actually, I'm _half_ -vampire," Miruko explains, shyly. "Now, what I'm about to tell you next is all from what my brother's told me…" he turns to Amelda, who just sighs in defeat, before continuing. "So here goes…

"He left the church but was ambushed by soldiers almost immediately. He ran as fast as he could, nearly activating a land-mine before entering a mausoleum in the old cemetery. The soldiers decided to let my brother rot amongst the corpses and left.

"My brother found a sarcophagus-yes, I said _sarcophagus_ -inside and the walls of the mausoleum marked with hieroglyphics. Out of curiosity, he opened it, revealing the vampire within. The vampire wasn't happy that someone interrupted his nap and…"

Miruko points to a wall where the shadows form a silhouette of his brother paralyzed in fear before the vampire swoops in. Atem narrows his eyes.

"Varon and I had no idea what happened at that time, so I decided to find him and see if he was all right. It took me a while, sneaking out in the settings sun and all, but I found him walking out of the mausoleum just as it was becoming night. He looked...really pale, but I chalked it up to him not eating much lately.

"I rushed toward him and that's when I noticed how strange he looked. His breathing was shallow, he had fangs, he didn't like sunlight at all, and when he lowered the hand covering his neck, I saw bite marks. That's when I knew that he had become a vampire, but that came too late for me. I became my brother's first meal."

Amelda winces as Miruko reveals a mark on his neck, a reminder of how he made his little brother a night-walker. Varon just holds his hand.

"I don't know what happened next, I just felt so much pain and fear from what my brother was doing to me. I tried to scream, but him covering my mouth and the fear of soldiers coming to find us stopped me. After my brother 'fed', he brought me back to the mausoleum where I was face to face with the vampire.

"He didn't look like the traditional vampire that mother told us about..he had dark skin, white hair, some sort of scar going down his eye and he dressed in a red coat with gold trim. He called himself Bakura and said that he was from Ancient Egypt...just like…"

Realization dawns on Miruko as he turns to Atem, but the Pharaoh just stares back as if to say "Continue" along with what looks like his crimson eyes glowing like a wildfire. Miruko nervously looks away before continuing.

"So the vampire told me how my brother begged to live, for me and for Varon. I didn't know how Amelda did it, but Bakura spared him and made him part vampire after having a 'bite' to eat."

"Of course, I was just confused and terrified with it all, especially when I was supposed to 'feed' on him so I wouldn't die of blood loss. I was a little kid back then...so I did what I had to do."

"I think we can all relate to that," says Reiji. "What else happened?"

"Well, after I was 'well-fed' and rested, the three of us made our way back to the church, where we found that it was set on fire," Miruko explains. "People were running away in fear, but there was no sign of Varon at all. Using our newfound abilities, we made our way through the chaos and found that Varon was still inside, trapped by burning benches and no help in sight.

"With no time to lose, Amelda raced through the burning church, tearing through the benches like one shreds a piece of paper until Varon was in his arms once more. I had the duty to be on the lookout for soldiers but, thankfully, none came. We'd learn why no soldiers would come some time after...well…"

"Well, what?" asks Atem, speaking for the first time since the story began. "I do not believe that you are at the end yet."

Miruko flinches, but continues either way. "Varon wasn't in good condition, having been beaten up pretty badly by a sadistic soldier or five, and got shot in the stomach for good measure. He was dying, and all he asked was that Amelda leave him here to die and that I was brought to safety...

"But Nii-san would not allow that to happen.

"Without knowing whether or not this would work, he drank Varon's blood, as much as he could stomach without accidentally killing that boy he began to fall in love with, wanting nothing more than to spend the rest of his (somewhat undead) life being in Varon's arms. Varon didn't try to protest-whether due to blood loss or because he had full faith in my brother, I couldn't tell-because he knew what to do next."

Miruko manipulates the shadows with a few finger motions so that it depicts Varon leaning close to Amelda to bite the latter's neck. Varon briefly looks away as he recalls that memory with perfect clarity.

"With Varon unconscious in his arms, Amelda raced out of the church and found me watching Bakura single-handedly slaughter numerous soldiers and feasting on their blood. When Bakura, our Master, found Varon asleep, he already knew what Amelda had done and healed Varon's wounds. Then, the four of us hurried to an abandoned shelter and waited for him to wake up."

"There's an obvious hole in your story," says Noah. "You said that your brother was turned into a _half-_ vampire, so how did he gain the ability to make Varon one?"

"Bakura explained that it was because of two factors," Miruko answers. "First, it's because of how much Varon wanted to live-vampirism doesn't work unless the victim drinks a vampire's blood by his own volition, even if he knows that or not." He pauses. "Ever saw that movie _The Lost Boys_? There's a scene where the main character is tricked into drinking vampire blood disguised as wine and slowly becomes a blood-sucker because of it."

When Noah gives no response, Miruko continues after an awkward pause.

"The second factor was the bond between vampire and prey. Amelda fed out of love for Varon and, by drinking Amelda's blood while Nii-san was still a newborn vampire, Varon reciprocated those very same feelings. They became bonded to each other in a sense. I guess you can say that I transformed because of how I didn't want to lose what was left of my family.

"Anyway, once Varon woke up, Bakura finished the last part of the transformation by having Varon feed on him. Varon was shocked to learn that he became part vampire, but after learning that he can still walk under sunlight, that we only need to feed once a month, not to mention our powers over the shadows, he seemed to be okay with it. After all, the only thing he wanted most was that Amelda and I made it to safety.

"So Bakura took us under his wing…" Jun stifles a laugh at the pun while Miruko rolls his eyes. "And tutored us in the ways of vampirism for quite some time. In truth, he needed someone to help traverse the lands in the modern era because he was looking for someone...someone that was currently living in London at the time."

"And, let me guess," says Reiji. "That someone was his deceased queen currently sleeping within the confines of a glass case in the Museum of Natural History?"

"Funny, but no," Miruko answers. "But... let's just say that this last part is classified…" He feels Atem glaring at him once more, as if desiring to burn Miruko into a pile of ashes with his gaze. "After he found that person, we were free to go. Of course, this means we had no place to go without our 'Master' to keep an eye on us. We never thought what we'd be doing after our mission was done…

"That is, until a girl with blonde hair and a teddy bear in her hands found us."

The shadows change a third time, depicting a girl with pigtails encountering a boy (who looks like Miruko) and the girl extending a hand out to him (which the boy accepts). The Dark Signer Acolytes look in understanding.

"Rebecca, Raphael and their grandfather were on vacation at the time," Miruko explains. "And, I don't know how, but she convinced her grandfather to take us all in. Which leads to this very moment. The End."

Miruko takes a step back as he finally finishes the story. Molly claps her hands alongside Shooti, Jun and Reiji. Atem, however, keeps his gaze on Miruko, his mind only focused on the vampire Bakura...could it be that….

The Pharaoh shakes his head to dispel those thoughts. He will worry about that later; after he is certain that Heba is back in his arms once more.

"That was a fine story," he announces after Miruko returns to his siblings. "We shall take a ten minute break before the third round starts.

"And to make things more interesting, the loser must fulfill one request for the winner. It can be anything the winner decides, so long as it does **not** involve Heba nor I in anyway." Atem stares at Yugi briefly, his eyes softening as he watches how adorable the boy looks when he's asleep. "Choose carefully."

Miruko drops to his knees as Raphael hands him a cup of tea and a tart (which didn't vanish when the duel concluded). Meanwhile, Noah begins to approach the Hopkins.

"What do you want?" asks Amelda. Noah sighs.

"I came to apologise for my attitude," he answers. "I haven't had a chance to socialize that much since I was revived a few months ago. So…" Noah clears his throat as he extends a hand out towards Miruko. "Can you... forgive me?"

There is a pause as Miruko stares at the hand, then at Noah. Handing the finished cup of tea to Raphael, he takes the hand into his own and smiles.

"I can't hold a grudge for that long, and I didn't know that I was being rude with my remarks," Miruko answers. "So, are you going to tell me how you ended up like this?"

"...I can't tell you my past yet," Noah mutters, releasing his hand before turning his back towards Miruko. "But I should at least give you my full name."

"And what is it?" asks Miruko, slightly confused at Noah's change of attitude.

Noah turns around, a sad smile on his face. "My full name was Noah Kaiba, but I go by Noah Nagisa now. And...I hope we can become good friends in the future."

He then walks off as Miruko, Amelda and Varon stare at the boy with horror. Rebecca turns to them.

"Wait, does that mean…" she trails off as everything clicks. "He was the son of…"

"The very same man who funded that war…" Amelda finishes. "I hope that bastard is burning in Hell for what he's caused."

Varon says nothing as he sizes his opponent (Shooti, who is the only one preparing his deck) up. There are more important things to worry about then curses on corrupt businessmen after all…

Although he also agrees that Gozaburo Kaiba needs to be sent to the depths of the Underworld and punished for his crimes against humanity.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Meanwhile, throughout the entire duel and Miruko's backstory, Yugi is dreaming.

Currently, he sees himself in Egypt thousands of years ago, where Atem and a boy that eerily looks like him, the one known as Heba, are in a temple lit with torches that highlight a multitude of hieroglyphics where they are about to be blessed by a golden dragon. Yugi stays absolutely still (which isn't difficult since no one can see or hear him) as the dragon shrinks into an orb of light that enters Heba's chest.

Then, everything dissolves into light.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **ALICE, THE WARDEN OF WONDERLAND (Monster Card)**

Fairy/Dark/Effect/Level 4/1,300 ATK/1,000 DEF

Effect:

When this face-up Monster is attacked by an opponent's Monster with 2,000 ATK or less, toss one coin and call it. If you call it right, negate the attack.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **THE JABBERWOCK (Monster Card)**

Dragon/Dark/Effect/Level 7/2,600 ATK/2,000 DEF

Effect:

When this card is face-up on your side of the field, your opponent cannot select "Alice, the Warden of Wonderland" as an attack target.

 _Note: The preceding two cards were created by 0ccam's Razor and first appeared in his fic, "YuGiOh Jr: Legacy of the Duelist". Creative credit goes to him._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **ENCHANTED MUSHROOM (Spell Card)**

 **Quickplay Spell**

 **Image:** Tenniel's illustration of Alice confronting the Caterpillar on his mushroom, in black and white.

 **Card Description:** Choose one Level 4 or lower Monster on your side of the field. Choose one of the cards in your opponent's hand at random and guess whether it is a Monster, Spell, or Trap Card. If you guess correctly, double the chosen Monster's ATK until the End Phase of the current turn. If you guess incorrectly, halve the chosen Monster's ATK until the End Phase of the current turn.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **THE CHESHIRE CAT (Monster Card)**

Beast/Dark/Effect/Level 4/500 ATK/1,800 DEF

Effect:

When this card is face-up on your side of the field, increase the ATK of each "Alice the Warden of Wonderland" you control by 700.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **HEART GUARD (Monster Card)**

Warrior/Dark/Effect/Level 5/1,000 ATK/1,000 DEF

Effect:

This card cannot be Special Summoned. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon 1 "Spade Guard", 1 "Club Guard", and 1 "Diamond Guard" from your hand or deck.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **SPADE GUARD (Monster Card)**

Warrior/Dark/Level 3/1,000 ATK/500 DEF

Card Description:

 _They serve as manual laborers for the Queen of Hearts on most occasions, but can still wield a weapon if they have to._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **CLUB GUARD (Monster Card)**

Warrior/Dark/Level 3/1,000 ATK/500 DEF

Card Description:

 _The rank-and-file of the Queen's army. They are little more than grunts._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **DIAMOND GUARD (Monster Card)**

Warrior/Dark/Level 3/1,000 ATK/500 DEF

Card Description:

 _A skilled fighter in the service of the Queen of Hearts. He is dedicated to his liege._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **QUEEN'S INVITATION (Spell Card)**

 **Normal Spell**

 **Image:** Tenniel's illustration of the Fish Footman presenting the Frog Footman with an envelope at the door of the Duchess's house, in black and white.

 **Card Description:** This card can be activated if 1 "Spade Guard", 1 "Club Guard", 1 "Diamond Guard", and 1 "Heart Guard" are in your Graveyard. Banish the above-named Monsters and Special Summon 1 "The Queen of Hearts" from your hand or deck.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **THE QUEEN OF HEARTS (Monster Card)**

Spellcaster/Dark/Effect/Level 9/3,400 ATK/2,400 DEF

Effect:

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except via the effect of "Queen's Invitation". If this card is destroyed as a result of battle, place 1 "Dark Heart Counter" on the Monster that destroyed it. A Monster with a "Dark Heart Counter" cannot attack, and the owner of the Monster loses 1,000 Life Points during each of his/her Standby Phases.

 _Note: The preceding eight cards were created by 0ccam's Razor and first used in his fic, "Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Messiah". Creative credit goes to him._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **HUMPTY DUMPTY (Monster Card)**

Rock/Dark/Effect/Level 4/2,300 ATK/0 DEF

Effect:

After this card attacks, it is changed to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase. This card's battle position cannot be changed until the end of your next turn, except with a card effect.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **VORPAL BLADE (Spell Card)**

Equip Spell

Image:

Tenniel's illustration of the "beamish" hero confronting the Jabberwock, in black and white.

 **Card Description:** Equip only to "Alice, the Warden of Wonderland". A Monster Equipped with this card gains 800 ATK. If a Monster on your field would be destroyed by the effect of a card that designates a target, you can destroy this card instead.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **OUT LIKE A CANDLE! (Trap Card)**

Normal Trap

 **Image:** Tenniel's illustration of Alice standing in front of a table, examining a bottle that says "DRINK ME", in black and white.

 **Card Description:** Destroy a monster you control. Reduce the ATK of a face-up monster your opponent controls by the original ATK of the destroyed monster. If the opponent's monster's ATK is reduced to 0 by this card's effect, destroy it.

 _Note: The preceding three cards were created by MultiplePersonas and first appeared in his fic, "Shadowchasers: Miscellaneous Files". Creative credit goes to him._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **EIGHTH SQUARE CORONATION (Spell Card)**

 **Normal Spell**

 **Image:** Tenniell's illustration of Alice kneeling on a patch of grass, her hands on the rim of a crown on top of her head.

 **Card Description:** Pay half of your lifepoints and send one "Alice, The Warden of Wonderland" on the field to the graveyard. Special Summon one "Alice, Queen of Mirrorland" from your hand or deck.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **ALICE, QUEEN OF MIRRORLAND (Monster Card)**

 **Fairy/Dark/Effect/Level 8/2400 ATK/1600 DEF**

 **Effect:** This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except via the effect of "Eighth Square Promotion".Once per turn, you can Banish one Dark monster from your graveyard to increase the Attack of this monster equal to the Banished monster's own. When this monster is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, Special Summon one "Alice, the Warden of Wonderland" from your hand or graveyard.

 _Note: The preceding two cards first appeared in "Between My Brother and Me: In Somnis Veritas."_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **MOUSE WITH A LONG TAIL (Monster Card)**

 **Beast/Dark/Level 4/700 ATK/2,000 DEF**

 **Card Description:** _This fellow has a long tale in regards to his history against cats. He also has a long tail that he is quite proud of._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **WONDERLAND (Spell Card)**

 **Field Spell**

 **Image:** A lush forest decorated with flowers and toadstools and locations of Wonderland off in the distance.

 **Card Description:** Once per turn you can target one Dark monster and activate ine if the following effects:

Double its Attack and destroy it at the end of the turn

Halve its Attack and let it attack directly

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Miruko: It feels good to get that off my chest, don't you think?**

 **Rebecca: I agree. Not to mention that Noah's not really a bad guy. Although, it would be nice to know his relationship with Wonderland…**

 **Raphael: In all this excitement, we forgot about Yugi and what that Pharaoh's done to him. If only I can enter his mind...**

 **Shooti: That will have to wait. Round 3 will begin soon and I want a challenge.**

 **Varon: You'll be getting it soon enough, just you wait.**

 **Amelda: Let's see which side is one duel closer to victory. Next time, Ab Antiquo - 4, "Star Light, Star Bright".**

 **Varon: Come on Shooti, it's time to fight this man-to-man!**


	5. Star Light, Star Bright

_**One loss, one victory and three matches left.**_

 _ **The name's Varon, and I guess you can call me the middle child of our family. I used to have no home or family though. The closest thing I had to those was being raised by a nun in a church before the old woman died on her daily routine to deliver food to the poor and unfortunate by soldiers in a very bitter war in the area.**_

 _ **That very same war is how I met Amelda and his little brother, and how our lives changed when Amelda searched for food and ended up waking a vampire up and the three of us to become...different in a way.**_

 _ **Traveling became the norm for us then and I grew up learning about the stars and their stories. It feels kind of weird how I settled down with a young girl and her grandfather, but such is life and it is something I would not change.**_

 _ **And while my opponent is undead, I can tell that his passion for life (or whatever he will call it now) is still there, just like it is inside me. However, that does not change the fact that he is an obstacle in the way of us getting out of this mess.**_

 _ **So now, it's time for us to fight this man-to-man.**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **4th Move**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Star Light, Star Bright**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

" _Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground."_

 _-Theodore Roosevelt_

Yugi wakes up slowly, his head spinning around from the rush of memories he has just experienced. With a groan, he places a hand on his forehead to steady himself.

"I see that you're awake now," Atem purrs, stroking under Yugi's chin as if the boy is a kitten. "How do you feel, love?"

Yugi blinks as he tries to figure out where he is: he is sitting in Atem's lap while across from him, Varon is about to duel, indicated by how his Duel Disk is activated. Before Yugi can speak, Atem's baritone voice cuts him off.

"They have been putting on an extravagant show for us so far," Atem continues. "Both sides have claimed a victory, and I have learned many new and interesting facts about these competitors. Let us see where Round 3 takes us."

Yugi stays quiet, trying to hide the blush on his face at how the Pharaoh is running his hands over the smaller boy's chest. He wishes to have a relationship like the one Varon and Amelda share...but not like this!

On the dueling field, Shooti has his fingers out like a frame as he "zooms in" on Varon looking through his deck one more time. Once he notices Varon glaring at him, he rapidly draws his cards.

"Oh yeah," Shooti says, pretending to look at what he's drawn. "I know _exactly_ what to ask for."

"If you want a photo of me, sure take one," Varon replies. "Contrary to belief, you **can** photograph a vampire...just make sure the vampire doesn't want a piece of you after you take the shot."

"Duly noted. So...what do you want from me if I lose?"

Varon smirks and licks the tips of his fangs. "I haven't had fresh blood in a while...if I win, you and those two who haven't dueled yet will be something that I, Amelda and Miruko snack on." He chuckles as Jun squirms a bit. "And what about you?"

"My request is kind of...personal," Shooti answers, briefly glancing aside before looking through his hand again. "But let's just say it relates to my hobby of photography."

"Ah…"

"The duel shall now commence," Atem announces, all while Yugi tries to rack his brain around what Varon has said. Just how long has he been unconscious to miss the fact that Varon, Amelda and Miruko are blood suckers?

"Roll of thunder, hear my cry!" Shooti chants.

"Let's fight this man-to-man!" Varon exclaims.

 **(Shooti: 8000) - - - - - - - (Varon: 8000)**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

While the Dark Signers' Sanctuary is where the Dark Signers normally reside, they have recently opened it up as a home for wayward souls who have no place to go after an 'incident' following the destruction of the Arcadia Movement building. Many of them continue their studies under the guidance of the Dark Signers, thus making it resemble a dormitory of sorts (which works since the Dark Signers can use the near limitless amounts of energy they possess to alter the sanctuary's interior to their liking.) The students still have to obtain jobs, food, clothes and the like, but there is no need to pay rent at all-the people stay for as long as they need to, but the Dark Signers will throw them out for any bad behavior.

In one room, one of the tenants is writing an email to his older sister and brother. The person, running a dark hand through hair the color of cornsilk, reads through the last paragraph.

 _Will I be seeing you soon? I heard that both you and Rishid are coming to the opening of the new exhibition in the museum in a few weeks, due to your position as curator. There's so much I have to tell you, and there's someone I would like to introduce you to. I hope we can all get along (and not tear each other's throats out)._

 _Sincerely, Malik_

With the email finished, Malik Ishtar clicks the "Send" button and then stretches his arms. It is getting late, and he has plenty of errands to complete tomorrow. Not to mention he has to figure out how to explain what he has been doing in Domino City since he last saw his older siblings.

As he turns his laptop off, he pauses. A strange presence washes over him, causing him to shudder slightly. He turns to his bed, unmade and the sheets spread out as if a tornado passed by, and notices someone lying down like a lazy cat.

As a matter of fact...said someone _is_ a cat. A sphinx, to be exact.

It has the body of a lion, but its fur is a dark violet hue that turns black if looked at the right way. Wrapped around its neck is a golden chain ending with a cartouche stamped with the symbol of an eye. Its spiky and unruly mane is the same color as Malik's own hair, and its lilac eyes show a maniacal look, paralyzing anyone who would trespass it before going in for the kill. Their claws are sharp enough to slice a tree with one swipe, and its tail swishes about like a serpent about to sink their fangs into a tasty mouse.

But the most prominent and defining feature of this regal feline are its wings.

Large hawk-like wings the color of desert sand that let it glide across the night sky. Malik never gets tired of seeing them, particularly when said wings tuck him in when he has to sleep, like right now.

Malik falls into bed as this winged lion purrs and pounces on its unsuspecting victim. He sighs.

"You sensed that too, right?" he asks the sphinx, scratching behind one of its ears. The sphinx unleashes a low growls in reply. "Thought so."

Malik then reaches toward something that sits on top of the bedside table-a golden winged staff with an eye in its center. It is one of the few belongings that he brought to Domino from his old home in Egypt, courtesy of his sister. He glides his hand up and down his precious treasure, feeling it light up at his touch.

"Could it be?" Malik asks himself. "Has the Pharaoh returned?"

The sphinx growls softly as Malik sets the staff down.

"We need to see this for ourselves," he says. "Tomorrow."

The sphinx opens its mouth to let out a big uaen as Malik tucks himself into bed. He knows that with the Pharaoh's return, everything will change.

He just has to make sure that whoever freed the Pharaoh knows what they have unleashed.

As Malik dreams of an Egyptian summer night, the sphinx changes form to that of a human and wraps Malik in a tight embrace, the two soon dreaming of that same Egyptian summer night.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So…" Shooti begins. "You a _Kamen Rider_ fan?"

Varon nods. "How did you guess?"

"That line you stated was from Fourze, just when he's about to fight off a Zodiarts. Gentaro is one of my favorite Kamen Riders; I mean, name one other Kamen Rider who forgives both the person who killed him and the person who killed his best friend."

"I know!" Varon grins. "He's also one of the very few main Kamen Riders who dies in his show (by the _secondary Rider_ no less) then gets revived. However, he is different from Ryuki in that he dies mid-way in the show and his resurrection doesn't involve the villain's intervention."

Shooti's eyes light up and he places his arms in front of him (like Fourze usually does before he proclaims how "Space is here!") "You've seen _Ryuki_?"

"And _Dragon Knight._ It makes me wonder what would happen if Saban localized _Gaim_. I mean, can you imagine how they would portray all of that nightmarish imagery for kids? I mean, episode 14 pretty much has Ryoji…"

"I'm not hearing this! Don't spoil it for me!" Shooti exclaims, covering his ears with his hands. "I just finished episode 11 a couple of days ago."

"Oh, so you know how Ryoji is depressed after Zangetsu accidentally destroyed his Sengoku Driver, huh?" Varon chuckles. "Well, let's just say that it gets _worse_ after that.

"But back to Fourze, I really loved how he seemed to be a forgiving type (and trust me, Ryusei deserved forgiveness compared to whom Kota forgives near the end of his series) and the theme of going to outer space blending in with a high school setting. It's thanks to that show that I was inspired on the type of monsters I use."

"Like what?" asks Shooti, lowering his hands. "Star Sigil?"

"Nope. Constellar, like my Spell Card Constellar Star Chart!"

Shooti gulps as Varon plays the Continuous Spell Card, depicting Constellar Pleiades covered in light.

"This card lets me draw a card every time I summon a Constellar Xyz Monster," Varon explains. "But before we get to that, I'll summon Constellar Pollux onto the field in Attack Mode!"

The astrology symbol for Gemini appears in a burst of light before a hulking, armored warrior emerges, wielding a large scimitar. (1700 ATK)

"And when Pollux is summoned," Varon continues. "I get an additional Summon for a Constellar monster. So, let's give a warm welcome to Constellar Algiedi!"

The astrology symbol for Capricorn forms before a female armored figure appears with two horns on her helmet (which covers her face barring a visor for her eyes), a blue cape resembling a fish tail and in her hands is a silver two-pronged staff. (1600 ATK)

"And Algiedi's effect kicks in!" Varon grins. "Which means I can Special Summon a Level 4 Constellar monster from my hand, like Constellar Acubens!"

Shooti gulps as the astrology symbol for Cancer appears and a shiny steel robot with pincers for hands (befitting a monster based on the Crab Constellation) emerges. (2000 DEF)

"... Aren't you going to summon a _fourth_ monster?" Shooti asks.

Varon shakes his head. "Acubens is known for giving all Constellar monsters I control an additional 500 Attack Points."

Sure enough Acubens' attack score rises to 1300 while Algiedi's is at 2100 and Pollux boasts 2200.

"Oh and I am _not_ done!" Varon exclaims. "Time to play the Overlay Network with Algiedi and Pollux!"

Both warriors nod their heads and jump into a portal above them. Then, a bright light appears causing the Acolytes to shield their eyes temporarily (as they are extremely sensitive to light due to their undead status) and Atem to become quiet.

"Presenting... Constellar Omega!" Varon announces.

Descending onto the field is another Constellar monster. Its appearance is similar to a centaur, with an upper half like a human upon a large, sturdy lower body on four legs ending in hooves. Its body is covered in white armor with gold trim that shines despite the fact it is in a dimly lit Egyptian palace, and metallic wings extending from the tips of its shoulders. His only weapon is a white shield shaped like the symbol of Constellar monsters while two orbs circle around it. (2400 -) 2900 ATK)

"And now that I have an Xyz monster, I draw a card," says Varon, taking a card to his hand.

"Then I'll play one card face-down and call it a turn."

"Dolls, weapons, undead monsters, Wonderland and now stars?" Atem lists as Yugi watches in silence. "Such a marvelous display! It makes me wonder what else is in store in the next round."

At this, Rebecca turns and sees Yugi awake. "Yugi! Are you okay? Did that demon mess with your mind?"

Yugi blinks as he recalls the various memories that he has observed, trying to make sense of it all. But, not wanting to worry Rebecca or her brothers, he shakes his head.

"I'm fine," he answers. "Don't worry about me. The Pharaoh is…" he pauses as he feels Atem gently wraps his arms around his torso. "We can trust him. He's on our side."

"Trapping us here, binding you with shadows, dressing you as a slave and trying to kill Raphael all counts towards us _trusting him_?" Rebecca exclaims. "Yugi...are you sure?"

"I can't explain it right now, but he won't hurt us," Yugi elaborates, feeling a sense of love and protection through his mind. He closes his eyes, awash in this feeling before sighing. "He's been trapped in that puzzle for so long, I think he was confused by everything."

"Oh that's what they _all_ say before the monster summoned plans to kill all of humanity," Miruko snarks.

"Very funny," Jun remarks. "Considering how your vampire lord up and ditched you."

"Coming from a cultist, that's rich," says Alister, causing Jun to growl.

"Knock it off," Raphael sighs. "We aren't getting any closer to leaving this place if we keep arguing." He then addresses Shooti. "Your turn."

"Right," says Shooti, drawing a card. "And I'll start by playing Graceful Charity."

The green dressed angel appears above Shooti's head and hands him three cards. Meanwhile, he discards two to the graveyard.

"And next," he continues. "I play Battery Charger and pay 500 lifepoints so I can Special Summon Batteryman AA from the graveyard."

Rising from the floor is a monster whose body is if a red battery marked with a "3". It has an orange head with neon green eyes along with grey wire limbs ending in orange hands and feet. (? ATK)

 **(Shooti: 7500) - - - - - - - (Varon: 8000)**

"Oh no," says Miruko. "He plays a Batteryman deck? Those things are dangerous if Shooti gets three of them on the field."

"Yep!" says Shooti. "And if you think one is bad enough, my Inferno Reckless Summon will let me Special Summon two more onto the field!"

"Fine by me," says Varon. "I'm gonna use it to bring my second Constellar Acubens onto the field for a bit of fun!"

Two more Batteryman AA emerge on Shooti's side of the field while a second Constellar Acubens appears in Varon's field, crouching in Defense and now sporting 1800 Attack Points alongside the other Acubens while Constellar Omega has 3400 Attack Points.

"And with three Batteryman AA, they all get 1000 Points for every Batteryman AA I control if they all are in the same position." Shooti notes. "So now, you're looking at three monsters with 3000 Attack Points _each_!"

Each Batteryman AA begins to hum with power. (? -) 3000 ATK x3)

"And time to bring on the thunder!" Shooti exclaims. "I play Lightning Vortex to end this duel with an OTK!"

Varon says nothing as he watches Shooti discard a card from his hand as lightning prepares to strike. Then, he smirks.

"I think you might be jumping the gun," he says, detaching Constantly Pollux from Constellar Omega. "You see, if I remove an Xyz Material from Omega, it makes him and my other Constellar monsters immune to Spell and Trap cards on the turn I use it. So much for that OTK."

"What?!"

One of the orbs circling Constellar Omega collides with Shooti's Lightning Vortex card as the storm above the duel fades. Reiji shakes his head.

"Jumping head first without thinking of the consequences," he says. "Why does _that_ sound familiar?"

"Don't bring that up," Shooti grumbles as he stares at his only card. "I can still attack this turn! Batteryman AA #1, attack one of those crabs!"

A Batteryman AA flies towards a Constellar Acubens, colliding with it head on and decreasing the attack of Varon's other Constellar monsters by 500.

"Nice move," says Varon. "Too bad that he has to go."

He flips his face-down card (depicting an Evilswarm monster unleashing fire at a Constellar) as Shooti stares at it with confusion.

"Constellar Meteor?" he reads. "What does _that_ do?"

"If your monster survives a battle with a Constellar monster," Varon explains. "Then it gets the honor of being shuffled back into your deck after the Damage Step. So that means you can't bring it back with Battery Charger so easily, right?"

Shooti snarls as his Batteryman is flung back into his deck, his Duel Disk automatically shuffling the cards around.

"I end my turn with a face-down monster," he says. "And that's it."

"All right then," says Varon, drawing a card. "I'm gonna start with Constellar Star Cradle!"

A Spell Card appears, depicting an angelic being unleashing a radiating light onto two Constellar monsters and an Evilswarm one. Then two cards eject from Varon's graveyard.

"This card lets me take two Constellar monsters from my graveyard to my hand," Varon explains. "Although the downside is that I have to skip my Battle Phase this turn. And with that, let's bring back Constellar Pollux, everyone!"

The scimitar wielding Constellar emerges once again. (1700 -) 2200 ATK)

"And next, I'll use his effect to sacrifice him and summon Constellar Virgo in his place!"

Pollux vanishes as the astrology symbol for Virgo flashes. Then the monster appears, revealing a female warrior covered in white and gold armor that shows off her figure. Interesting enough, her visor shows no eyeholes compared to Algiedi's own appearance. (2300 -) 2800 ATK)

"Interesting…" Shooti comments. "But what does she do?

"When she gets summoned, I get to Special Summon a Constellar monster from my hand whose level matches hers in Defense Mode. So, here comes Constellar Zubeneschamali!"

A strange looking monster appears from the astrology symbol for Libra: it is a robot with a ring on his head alongside thin arms ending in large hands made to resemble a set of scales. (1400 DEF)

"And with that, time for me to summon my next Xyz monster... Constellar Pleiades!"

Constellar Virgo and Zubeneschamali leap into the air as the newest Constellar monster emerges. It is a tall warrior in white and gold armor like its fellow Constellar monsters along with a cape in the shape of a star colored dark blue and outlined in white and gold. His weapon is a harpoon with an oversized point. (2500 ATK)

Meanwhile, Varon draws a card, looks at it, then places it face-down.

"Now let's see what you're made of," he smirks.

"I'm not scared of your monsters!" Shooti yells, drawing a card. "First, I flip-summon my Batteryman Micro-cell in Attack Mode!"

Shooti's face-down card flips over to reveal a cute monster of a circular purple and white robot with yellow eyes, red oval marks for cheeks, and purple and green triangular "ears", hands and feet. Stamped on its forehead is a recycling symbol. (100 ATK)

"It doesn't look like much," Shooti admits. "But when I flip him, I get to Special Summon a Batteryman whose level is 4 or lower. So, let's bring out his very close friend, Batteryman 9-Volt!"

Emerging from a bolt of lightning is a new Batteryman with a grey rectangular body and a square orange head with green eyes. Its hands and feet are also a matching orange color with blue accents. (1000 ATK)

"And when Batteryman 9-Volt is Summoned, I can take another Batteryman card into my hand," Shooti continues. "Plus, if I use this effect, I can double the stars of Batteryman 9-Volt this turn!"

As Shooti looks for a card to add to his hand, Batteryman 9-Volt grins. (1000 -) 2000 ATK)

"And since you like Summons so much, here's my next monster! I sacrifice Batteryman Micro-cell for Batteryman Charger!"

Batteryman Micro-cell disappears before a new Batteryman emerges. It has a red oblong head, hands and feet with yellow eyes in an annoyed expression. Its battery body has an infinity symbol stamped onto it. (1800 ATK)

"And when Batteryman Charger is Summoned, I can Special Summon a Batteryman from my deck, like…" Shooti chuckles. "That Batteryman AA you put back in my deck?"

Varon gasps as the third Batteryman AA emerges next to its brethren. (3000 ATK x3)

"And one more thing," Shooti draws out. "My Batteryman Charger gains an additional 300 Attack and Defense Points for every Thunder-type monster I control, himself included!"

Batteryman Charger crackles with electricity as a smile appears on its face. (1800 -) 3300 ATK)

"Ooh…" Molly notes. "Shooti did a good job there!"

"Indeed," Shooti remarks. "Your monsters can't save you now. So go, Batteryman AA, attack his Constellar Acubens!"

Once again, Batteryman AA flies after Constellar Acubens. This time, it is blocked by a mirror-like barrier and hurled back to Shooti's other monsters, destroying them!

"W….what?!" Shooti stammers. "My monsters...what did you do to them?"

"This," says Varon, revealing his Trap Card. "My Radiant Mirror Force card can only work if you control three monsters in Attack position. If you do, then I get to destroy all your monsters in Attack Mode. Guess that's strike two, huh?"

"N...not for long!" Shooti snaps. "I play Recycling Batteries to take two Batteryman monsters with less than 1600 Attack Points from my graveyard into my hand!"

A Spell Card showing two Batteryman monsters smudged with dirt fly out of a pile of garbage appears as Shooti takes two cards into his hands. Then, he signals the end of his turn.

"Okay then," says Varon, drawing a card. "First, I'll place Constellar Acubens in Attack Mode…"

The crab Constellar rises to his feet. (1300 ATK)

"And then I attack! Get him!"

The three Constellar monsters charge toward Shooti, only to be stopped by a spectral image of a robotic turtle with an "S" and "N" on the bottom of its shell and a long tail ending with a magnet.

"Electromagnetic Turtle?!" Varon exclaims. "When was _that_ in your graveyard?*

"When I played Graceful Charity," Shooti answers. "And with it Banished from my graveyard, I can end your Battle Phase once for this duel.

"As you can see, I am no one-trick pony. I learn from my mistakes and make sure to have backup plans, like one must always have enough film for photographs. Or, if you're a _Kamen Rider_ , you need to have strategies with what you have on hand."

"Sort of like _OOO_ and how he had to make good use of the Core Medals, right?" Varon asks.

"Yeah!" Shooti's arms are in front of him once more. "I honestly loved the themes of desire and felt like it was a compliment to _Den-O_ for an older audience. Oh and, secretly I do think that Eiji and Ankh should have been together in the end."

"You did?!" Rebecca shouts, eyes bright. "Oh my Gungnir, I did too! And I felt like they should have adopted Lost Ankh as their son! How adorable would that have been? I mean, Ankh himself gets revived in the future so anything goes, right?"

"Right! Ooh, I _really_ want to photograph that someday and…"

"Shooti!" Jun exclaims, covering Molly's ears. "Back to the duel, please?"

"Why are you covering her ears?" asks Noah. "After all, aren't four of the Dark Signers together? And they're all of the same sex? And that one of them is Kamitsure, the one who _revived Molly_?"

"That's different!" Jun explains.

"Is it really?" asks Molly. "You know I can hear everything even if you cover my ears."

"Can we get back to the duel?!" Varon exclaims. "It's still my move...or at least, it was. I'm ending it here."

"And now I go," says Shooti, drawing a card. "I'll set a monster face-down and then Banish two of my Batteryman AA to bring back my most powerful monster, the all-mighty Batteryman Industrial Strength!"

The spirits of two Batteryman AA monsters fly to the ceiling as the palace begins to shake. Then, a giant of a Batteryman emerges, its body based off of a car battery with a pair of blue and red jumper cables latched on its back while it grips to the alligator clips like they are weapons. (2600 ATK)

"And here's my monster's special ability," Shooti smirks. "If I Banish a Thunder-type monster from my graveyard, I can destroy a Monster and a Spell or Trap Card you control. And since Constellar Omega only negates the effects of Spell and Trap Cards…"

Constellar Omega begins to sweat as Shooti takes a card from his graveyard into the sleeve of his cloak. Then Batteryman Industrial Strength raises its arms into the sky as electrical energy surges around it. Then, it lowers its arms as crescents of energy slice through Constellar Omega, sending it to the graveyard alongside Varon's Constellar Star Chart.

"All right!" says Jun, pumping a fist. "That's the Shooti I know!"

"Now," says Shooti, pointing towards Constellar Acubens. "Attack with Industrial Strength Shockwave! _Seiya!_ "

Batteryman Industrial Strength fires another wave of crescent-shaped energy blows that cleave Acubens in half and causing Varon's lifepoints to fall.

 **(Shooti: 7500) - - - - - - - (Varon: 6700)**

"And I will call it a turn," Shooti concludes. "You're up."

As Varon draws his card, Yugi feels Atem nuzzle into his neck. He blushes before speaking.

"Atem," he whispers.

"Yes, Heba?" Atem replies. Yugi sighs.

"I saw how much you cared for Heba," he begins. "And, although I may never have the same bond you two shared, I want to, at least, create a bond with you. I wished to share a romance with someone who cares for me…" he briefly stares at Varon sharing a knowing glance at Amelda before speaking. "So, we can start slow, right?"

Atem pauses before hugging Yugi once more. At this, Yugi feels a stream of thoughts enter his mind, all of them consisting of praise and thanks to the gods for a "second chance" in romance.

Yugi makes a mental note to write down the memories he has seen when he wakes up in the morning.

Meanwhile, Varon has summoned his second Constellar Acubens, thus increasing the attack scores of both Constellar Acubens and Constellar Pleiades by 500.

"You know," Varon remarks. "While it _was_ smart to remove Constellar Omega from the field, the smart _ **er**_ move would have been destroying Constellar Pleiades."

"What do you mean?" asks Shooti.

"Because if I remove an Xyz Material from Pleiades, he sends one face-up card you control back to your hand. And since you nearly cleared out your graveyard to summon him, your Industrial Strength Batteryman is gonna be collecting dust."

Constellar Pleiades hurls his harpoon at the Batteryman, sending it flying back into Shooti's hand.

"Smart move!" says Miruko. "Shooti only has one Thunder-type monster in his graveyard and if he tries to summon it again, Pleiades can just bounce that thing back again!"

"All right then," says Varon. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

Constellar Acubens runs toward Shooti's face-down monster, flips it over to reveal Batteryman Micro-cell (100 DEF) and crushes it in one of its pincers.

"With Batteryman Micro-cell flipped, I'll Special Summon my Batteryman 9-Volt from my hand and then let me take another Batteryman monster from my deck to my hand.

"And that's not all. When Batteryman Micro-cell is destroyed after being flipped, I get to draw a card. So thanks for the help."

Batteryman 9-Volt emerges, growing stronger until it has 2000 ATK. Meanwhile, Shooti has added two more cards to his hand.

"Who cares?" Varon asks. "I still have another attack. Get him, Pleiades!"

Constellar Pleiades hurls his spear at the orange Batteryman, turning it into pixels.

 **(Shooti: 6500) - - - - - - - (Varon: 6700)**

"And that's that," says Varon. "What ya gonna do now?"

 _I have to get rid of those things quickly._ Shooti thinks to himself. _Miruko is right; if I try to summon Batteryman Industrial Strength, he'll be hurled back to my hand and I won't be able to Special Summon any other Batteryman monsters from the graveyard!_

 _Okay, okay. Let's see here…_

Shooti draws a card, looks at it, then smirks.

"I play my second Battery Charger," he says. "And I'll use it to Special Summon Batteryman Charger from my graveyard."

Batteryman Charger rises from the grave, its body sparking with energy. (1800 -) 2100 ATK)

 **(Shooti: 6000) - - - - - - - (Varon: 6700)**

"And when Batteryman Charger is Summoned, I can bring out another Batteryman like my second Batteryman 9-Volt, and you know what happens then, right?"

Varon frowns as the orange rectangular Batteryman emerges as Shooti takes a new card into his hand. (1000 -) 2000 ATK)

"Oh and now that I have two Thunder-type monsters on the field, I can Special Summon Batteryman Fuel Cell in Attack Mode!"

Appearing in-between Batteryman Charger and 9-Volt is a new Batteryman: one with a pink square body and red eyes and a smile on its face. (2100 ATK)

"Doesn't look scary," says Varon.

"True, true," Shooti replies. "But he has an ability similar to Constellar Omega if I tribute a Thunder-type monster I control.

"However, I rather use him to punch the living daylights out of you after he shed tears in the rain."

Rebecca raises an eyebrow. " _Blade Runner_ fan?"

"Of course!" Shooti replies. "I can't wait for the sequel to come out! The road to 2049 can't come soon enough!

"But back to the duel, I play Makiu the Magical Mist and choose Batteryman 9-Volt as my target!"

A cloud of mist emerges as Batteryman 9-Volt crackles with electricity.

"This card has me choose a Thunder-type monster I control to let me destroy all monsters you have on the field whose defense is less than or equal to the attack score of the monster I chose," says Shooti. "And since the defenses of your monsters fit the bill, I think it's time they go take a visit to Tannhauser Gate…" His eyes glitter in the dark as he brings his arms out again. "Which I heard is also a real card! I would _kill_ to have a copy of that in my deck!"

"And when you mean that, you mean that figuratively...right?" asks Varon, detaching the last of Constellar Omega's Xyz Materials.

"Uh, yeah, of course I wouldn't _really_ kill anyone…" Shooti stammers out as he watches Batteryman Fuel Cell be blown back to his hand. "The closest to me killing someone was how I ended up in a suicide club with 53 other students and…"

"Stop, stop right there!" Varon interrupts as both his monsters explode. "Last thing I need to hear is how you died."

Shooti frowns, then shrugs his shoulders. "Eh, I suppose you're right. Now, where were we...oh right! Attack directly!"

Batteryman Charger (at 2400 ATK) and Batteryman 9-Volt fly across the field and hurl two orbs of electrical energy at Varon's Duel Disk, causing him to fly back a few inches. Fortunately, before he collides with one of his siblings, his vampire wings unfurl and he uses them to glide back onto his side of the field.

 **(Shooti: 6000) - - - - - - - (Varon: 2300)**

Shooti blinks as he stares at the strange appendages: wings the color of a wet road at midnight with specks of light to resemble stars. Varon glares as his wings fold back.

"You can take a photo to make the image last longer _after_ we finish," he notes. Shooti shakes his head.

"Sorry about that," he says. "So, uh, I'm going to end my turn there. And since I activated Batteryman 9-Volt's effect, he gets destroyed at the end of my turn."

9-Volt turns red before he explodes in a cloud of light that causes Shooti to momentarily turn away. Meanwhile, Varon draws his card.

"Since I don't have a monster on the field while you carry one," Varon starts. "That means I can Special Summon Constellar Siat from my hand to the field!"

The astrology symbol for Aquarius appears as a tiny armored man materializes, wielding a large water jug sealed with a cork. (1600 DEF)

"And Siat can change his level to that of a Constellar monster on the field or in my grave," Varon continues. "And I think I'll go with...5."

 _Not good..._ Shooti thinks as the water jug over Constellar Siat's head uncorks itself and water splashes over the monster's head. _He'll try to Xyz Summon Constellar Pleiades again!_

"And, to ensure that I have some help," Varon continues. "I play Pot of Avarice to take five monsters from my graveyard to my deck, and then get two new cards."

The pink pot with a toothy grin appears as Varon returns five cards to his deck, shuffles it and then draws two cards. He grins, exposing his fangs.

"And it seems like I can do some _more_ summoning!" he says. "First, I'll summon Constellar Aldebaran…"

The symbol of Taurus appears as a bull-like warrior appears, his weapon a large red ring of light like a chakram. (1300 ATK)

"Then I can use his ability bro Special Summon a Constellar whose level matches his, like my Level 3 Constellar Leonis…"

The astrology symbol for Leo appears as a tall, powerful humanoid in silver plate armor emerges. The helm of this monster has a blue spiky mane to make it remove its namesake and wields a blue glowing sword. (1000 ATK)

"And Leonis gives me an extra summon, so I'm bringing out Constellar Kaus to make it a party!"

Emerging from the astrology symbol of Sagittarius is a silver archer with the body of a centaur wearing a matching cape and cap. His weapon is a golden longbow notched with silver arrows. (1800 ATK)

"And if you thought that Siat has the level changing ability, Kaus can increase or decrease the level of _two_ Constellar monsters I control by 1," Varon remarks. "So, I'll increase the level of Constellar Kaus to five and we can have the sparks fly!

"First, I play the Overlay Network to Xyz Summon Constellar Pleiades…"

Constellar Siat and Kaus fly into the air and re-emerge as the harpoon-wielding Constellar (2500 ATK)

"And I'll use Leonis and Aldebaran to Xyz Summon Constellar Hyades!"

Leonis and Aldebaran vanish and a large hulking armored warrior with golden bull horns on the sides of his helmet emerges, wielding two long spears ending in red rings of light. (1900 ATK)

"And," says Varon, detaching a card from Constellar Pleiades. "What is Constellar Pleiades good at again?"

Shooti gulps as Batteryman Charger is blown back to his hand and leaving his field empty.

"Now then, wake up!" Varon exclaims. "Time to die!"

Shooti has no time to remark to that line from _Blade Runner_ (and how it is useless since he's already dead) as both monsters hurl their weapons at his Duel Disk and drop his lifepoints down even further.

 **(Shooti: 1600) - - - - - - - (Varon: 2300)**

Shooti curls his hand into a fist as Varon signals the end of his turn. He only has one chance at turning things around.

"I draw!" he says, looking at his card. He calmly plays the card face-down before placing a new Batteryman on the field.

"Batteryman D?" Varon asks, confused.

The new Batteryman has a yellow battery body with a red number 1 in the center alongside a green head, hands and feet. (1900 DEF)

"And when it's on the field, you can't target any other monster except that one," Shooti answers. "Your move."

 _Okay, something doesn't add up._ Varon notes, drawing a card. _Unless that face-down card is Mirror Force or something to boost himself, he doesn't have a lot of options. All of the Batteryman monsters in his hand need sacrifices and his AA ones were Banished. What is he planning?_

"My move," says Varon, drawing a card. "And I'll take the easy way out with Shield Crush to destroy your Batteryman!"

Shooti doesn't flinch when Batteryman D is sent to the graveyard.

"This duel is mine!" Varon exclaims. "Attack directly, Hyades!"

Hyades prepares one of his weapons and hurls it at Shooti. Only for Shooti to smile.

"I activate...Return from a Different Dimension!"

he shouts.

"All right!" Jun exclaims just as a portal emerges on the floor. "Shooti gets his Batteryman AA monsters back!"

Reiji nods his head as four monsters (the aforementioned Batteryman monsters and Electromagnetic Turtle) appear in front of Shoot. Constellar Hyades soon destroys Electromagnetic Turtle.

 **(Shooti: 800) - - - - - - - (Varon: 2300)**

"That was brilliant!" Atem applauds. "And since they each hold 3000 attack points now, there's only one thing Varon can do."

"...I end my turn." Varon states.

"WHAT?!" Everyone else shouts.

"Varon, you could still win this!" Rebecca exclaims. "Use Pleiades' ability to return a Batteryman AA back to his hand, then destroy one so that he loses 500 lifepoints and his remaining Batteryman AA has one thousand Attack Points!"

"But remember that he has monsters like Fuel Cell, Charger and Industrial Strength in his hand," Varon notes. "If you think of what he can do, then I am stuck in a Morton's Fork no matter how I see it. So, I lose no matter what."

"No…" Rebecca whispers as Shooti draws a card. He smiles sadly at what he sees.

"So…" he begins. "You know what Short Circuit does, right?"

Varon says nothing as Shooti plays the card, a surge of electricity fires from said Spell Card and destroys both his monsters. Shooti sighs as he closes his eyes.

"I have seen things you wouldn't believe…" he recites. "I have seen shadows claw their way into people's souls. I watched as people fell to their deaths like shooting stars in the night sky. These memories have passed in my mind like tears in rain." Shooti smirks. "Time...to die."

Batteryman AA charges toward Varon and collides with his Duel Disk as Varon screams and falls on his back in pain.

 **(Shooti: 800) - - - - - - - (Varon: 0)**

"Victory to Shooti," says Atem. "And my, this means that the Acolytes are just one victory away from winning…

"Unless, we gain an unexpected win from the Hopkins, correct?"

Varon groans as he sits up, making sure his wings aren't hurt from the fall, while Amelda stares at Jun and steps forward. Meanwhile, Shooti gathers all his cards.

"That was amazing!" Molly exclaims as she wraps her arms around Shooti's waist. "Bel will be happy to learn of your victory!"

"She would," Shooti murmurs, hiding the blush on his face as he turns to Varon. "And since I won, I have a request."

"You mean you want to photograph me like this?" Varon asks as he rises to his feet. "Yeah, and you better hope to whatever god you pray to will save you from a feral vampire."

"No, it was about my hobby. You see, I have a job as a reporter for a blog called Chasing Shadows. If you can, check out some of the articles I wrote there. I go under the name 'Trip Deckard', ok?"

Varon hesitates then laughs and leans his head back.

"That's it?" he says. "Oh man, and here I wanted to make you into dinner! You are one strange kid...you _are_ a kid, right?"

"Yeah, I am…" Shooti smirks. "In the same way that Deckard is a Replicant."

Varon bursts out laughing once more as Shooti returns to his side and Reiji pats his shoulder. Atem nods his head.

"We shall have a ten minute recess and continue with Round 4. This time, the winner obtains the rarest card of the loser.

"And be careful. After all, this duel will decide how Round 5 plays out."

As the Pharaoh stares this, Rebecca briefly stares at how Yugi seems to relax in Atem's brace; if it isn't for the fact that she deems Atem suspicious, she will have found it adorable.

Raphael reassures his sister with a pat on the shoulder, all while Miruko slips his hand into her own. Rebecca smiles a bit, but her mind is still on how to save Yugi from that monster.

Amelda helps Varon stand up before he draws a card, looks at it and then returns it to his deck.

"Good luck," Varon whispers into his boyfriend's ear. Anelda smirks as his eyes flicker to a shade if crimson as he nods his head.

 _Time to have a little fun, shall we?_ he thinks as he looks at Jun. _I think a visit to the Grand Guignol is in order.…._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Varon: Okay, so we just have to win this next round or bad things happen.**

 **Rebecca: I still have a bad feeling about this. I don't trust that Pharaoh at all.**

 **Raphael: And Yugi telling us to trust him isn't helping matters.**

 **Amelda: In the meantime, it looks like I'm up. I haven't had a chance to use these cards in a while, so let's see where it goes.**

 **Jun: There is no way that I'm gonna lose. For I, Jun, will knock you and all your monsters down!**

 **Miruko: Good luck, nii-san! Next time, Ab Antiquo - 5, "Mysterious Puppeteer".**

 **Amelda: So Jun, play with me?**


	6. Mysterious Puppeteer

_**Round 4 begins and I am the only person with a chance to give our siblings and I the"aid" of a spiky-haired Pharaoh of darkness.**_

 _ **I don't want to explain too much about myself, but I honestly pity my opponent right now. I highly doubt that he wanted this fate put upon him, or what it means to the people he cares about. Back when I made that deal to become part vampire, I wasn't thinking in the long term. All I wanted to do was survive.**_

 _ **Here, I can see someone struggling with a sense of where he is right now, and what will happen to him in the long run. I can't help him out, but I at least can sympathize with him. It's a start.**_

 _ **But most importantly, I have to wonder what it was like for Atem to be sealed within that puzzle for three millennia... it couldn't have done wonders for his sanity. And it's also making me concerned for what happens after we leave this palace and also what Yugi will endure with this demon living in him.**_

 _ **That would be for later, right now, it's time to play the game.**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **5th Move**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Mysterious Puppeteer**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

" _I know what I look like - a weird, sad clown puppet. I'm fine with that._

 _-Rainn Wilson_

At a desk in her bedroom, Serena draws a card amongst a set that has been fanned out in front of her.

While she doesn't have the natural ability of fortune reading like her friend, Haruka, does (nor does she have Haruka's other abilities as an apprentice witch who can conjure fire when angry or communicate and venture through reflective surfaces with enough concentration) something inside her is telling to use her deck to help calm her nerves.

Something is out there...something dark.

So, with a desk lamp illuminating a collection of cards from both her main deck and extra deck in front of her, Serena flips the card she chose around and stares at it as if she intends to set it ablaze with just that look.

 _Ghostrick Alucard_.

The babysitter of the Ghostrick monsters, the only vampire in this horde of Halloween creatures, who is also the second strongest member in the brood. Curious.

After contemplating its meaning, Serena moves her pointer finger back and forth over five cards and picks the one in the middle, flipping it over and setting it down next to Ghostrick Alucard. The card depicts Ghostrick Specter and Lantern looking quite spooky as if they caught someone off guard.

 _Ghostrick Surprise_.

So, a surprise is in the works? One of Serena's mottos is to "Expect the unexpected", and she is curious to see what type of surprise is in store.

The last card, which she grabs quickly and slams it down makes her even more curious.

 _Ghostrick Doll_.

If she is to sum it up, a vampire has a trick in regards to dolls. But, if there is something that her English teacher, Professor Aurea Juniper, has told her, is that it's to look at the symbolism and not just the literal meaning.

So, closing her eyes and concentrating, Serena tries to find a link between vampires and dolls, but can only come up with the theory of a vampire brainwashing innocent victims to become monstrous blood suckers.

Or, perhaps she should follow the rules of Occam's razor: the simplest solution is usually the best one.

With a groan, and knowing how late it is, Serena gathers all her cards, turns off the light and slips into bed, turning her cellphone on to make note of a reminder that there's a dance party at Domino Park in the morning She smiles as she sets her cellphone down and looks up at the ceiling, slowly drifting off to sleep as she imagines the fun she will have in a few hours.

 _Maybe..._ she thinks to herself before she falls into slumber _. I'll see a vampire perform with dolls. Wouldn't that be fun?_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"I can do this, I can do this, I can do this…" Jun repeats to himself as he watches Amelda slowly draw his cards. He turns away and starts pacing back and forth. "Just one victory and we're in the clear. It's all up to me. I can do this. This will be as easy as obtaining a…"

"Are we going to duel, or will we have to listen to this incessant pep talk all night long?" Amelda asks, slightly annoyed. "You're lucky Shooti won the last duel or else I would have some fun feasting on your blood."

"Technically, that's not possible," says Noah. "First off, we're _dead_ ; the dead don't bleed.

"And second, if you tried to attack us, the ones who resurrected us will sense it and maul you to death, or perhaps submerge you in a pit of fire, struck down by lightning…"

"Like I said," Amelda interrupts. "Are we going to duel or not?"

Jun stops his pacing and draws his cards. "Yeah, yeah, I'm just getting myself pumped up," he answers. "So, what type of deck are you using?"

"You'll see soon enough. So…" Amelda's lips curl into a playful grin. "Play with me?"

Jun smirks. "Guess I am. But you better watch out because I, Jun, will knock you down!"

 **(Jun: 8000) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 8000)**

"I'll take the first move," says Amelda, drawing his card. He stares at it with a grin not unlike the one Noah displayed back in his duel with Miruko.

"Oh…" Miruko winces. "This won't end well."

"It's time to play the music," Amelda begins. "It's time to light the lights! It's time to get things started at the Grand Guignol tonight!"

He slaps a Field Spell card onto his Duel Disk and, once again, the throne room transforms into a new location; this time, it is a theater that looks like it was once a church (from the angels staring down at the orchestra pit) with the seats looking more like confessionals for nuns and priests. The entire place holds an aura of the macabre that causes the audience to shiver; it is as if something is ready to strike from within the shadows to maim them, kill them or do something even worse.

"What is this place?" asks Jun, looking around. "Some kind of theater?"

"Of course!" Amelda answers, stretching his arms out. "This is the Grand Guignol, a theater that specializes in surreal horror and dramatic plays not for the faint of heart.

"Founded near the end of the 19th century in what is known as the Pig Alley of Paris, and lasting till the early 1960s, the Grand Guignol, named 'The Great Puppet Theater' after a puppet that was once used to calm people down for dental work before he became known for comedic shows based on worldly events at the time, this very stage displayed man at his very worst, where horror, blood, insanity and primal fears were the subject matters for an unprepared, and faint of heart, audience.

"But for this duel, it is where my Gimmick Puppet monsters shine. First off, all 'Gimmick Puppet' monsters gain 300 Attack and Defense points. Next, I can pay 500 lifepoints to take a 'Gimmick Puppet' into my hand as long as I skip my Battle Phase, and as long as I have one of my puppets on the field, the Grand Guignol stands. Got that?"

"Okay, that's...hold on a minute…" Jun steps back, his amber eyes widening in horror. "D...did you just say _Gimmick Puppet_?!"

"Indeed," Amelda answers. "So, let me introduce you to the opening act. I summon Gimmick Puppet Humpty Dumpty in Attack Mode!"

A spotlight shines on the stage as the first Gimmick Puppet appears from behind a red velvet curtain: a small puppet of a man in a white suit, turquoise pants ending in grey shoes and a large red egg-shaped head topped with a tiny orange hat which he tips towards Jun. (100 -) 400 DEF)

"And when Humpty Dumpty is summoned, I can Special Summon a Gimmick Puppet monster from my hand, like Gimmick Puppet Des Troy in Defense Mode!"

With a whinny, the newest Gimmick Puppet appears. It is a horse, reminding those who know their classical mythology of the legendary horse that led to the destruction of Troy itself, but it is the color of ivory with ebony legs that stands on a circular platform. If one looks closer, they can see that this puppet is actually constructed out of numerous _human_ mannequins bonded together like molecules to act as the body and its black colored saddle. (2000 -) 2300 DEF)

"Okay, it's not that bad _yet_ …" Jun observes, noticing the puppet horse snort. "It's not some of the more...unsettling cards…"

"What's wrong?" asks Amelda, still with a serene smile on his face. "Who doesn't like puppets?"

"Let's just say I'm not the biggest fan of maniacal puppets outfitted with razor-sharp blades and other items used for torture," Jun answers. "I just dueled someone last week who used a deck like that in order to obtain my most valuable card and, boy, that Xyz monster of his was _brutal_. And the duelist who used these cards looked similar to Yugi but with a scar across the face and if you mixed his personality with that of a sadist's." Jun shudders. "That guy was a _monster_ , let me tell you."

At this, Jun can feel the tension in the air as he turns to see Atem summon a sword with a black serrated blade in his hand from the shadows, ready to butcher Jun in front of everyone, his teeth clenched as if restraining himself from letting his weapon slice through Jun's throat. Yugi looks in horror, unable to decide whether or not to speak up for Jun. Rebecca prepares herself for the worst, and Reiji has a hand raised in the air just in case.

"N...not that I think _Yugi_ of all people is a sadist," Jun hastily corrects himself. "No, he is a _really_ sweet guy and would never hurt a fly. So...you can put that sword now...okay?"

Atem wordlessly vanishes his weapon with a wave of his hand, his crimson eyes still on Jun before the boy returns his gaze at Amelda's Gimmick Puppets.

"So, you, uh, don't have _that_ particular monster...right?" Jun asks, nervously.

Amelda just chuckles before unleashing a laugh that would have caused the hairs on the back of one's neck to stand on end. His black bat wings unfurl as his eyes glow with a crimson light. He bares his fangs as a dark aura manifests around him.

"Depends," he answers. "But I rather savor the fear you show on your face before I show you the secrets I _truly_ hide."

"Oh no," Miruko whimpers. "Nii-san is showing his 'Crowley' side."

"Hmm?" Molly tilts her head. "What does that mean?"

"As vampires, we have a side to us corrupted by bloodlust whenever it's time for us to eat," Varon explains. "And since Amelda was the first of us to transform _and_ transformed me within the span of 24 hours, he has more vampiric traits but needs more blood to compensate. A dhampyr (human based vampire) who takes too much of a human's blood during their first 24 hours of transforming have a higher risk of transforming into a full vampire.

"Also, Amelda has always been a lover of puppet theater (something that was passed down from his mom) and the macabre (a mechanism to help fight off _plenty_ of trauma he witnessed during that war) and thus his 'other self' is given the last name of that famous British occultist."

When Molly keeps staring at Varon as if she is waiting to see him show more of his vampiric traits aside from his wings, the older man sighs. "Look it up after this is over."

Yugi just watches Amelda look through his cards (and also at Varon still showing his wings and Miruko biting his bottom lip with sharp fangs) as he recalls what Rebecca said about Amelda needing lots of iron and being anemic earlier today...he doesn't know whether to be mad at being lied to or awed at learning how some of Rebecca's brothers are part vampire.

Rebecca can sense this too as she takes a glance at Yugi before looking away, ashamed.

"Now," Amelda continues. "I sacrifice 500 lifepoints to take a 'Gimmick Puppet' monster to my hand. Since this is the first turn, I can't conduct my Battle Phase, and even then my Grand Guignol has me skip it."

 **(Jun: 8000) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 7500)**

"Why would you have a Field Spell that skips your Battle Phase?" asks Noah, taking a note to research the theater after this is over.

"Why do _you_ have a deck based off of _Wonderland_?" Miruko retorts.

Noah stays silent, biting his bottom lip and just about ready to pounce on Miruko before Reiji steps in and places a hand on Noah's shoulder,shakung his head before Noah huffs and looks away. Meanwhile, Amelda takes a card to his hand, the auto-shuffle function on his Duel Disk activating.

"And next," Amelda continues. "I play Iron Draw, which allows me to draw two cards if I have exactly two Machine-type monsters on the field. And wouldn't you know it, Gimmick Puppet monsters _are_ Machines!"

Amelda's Spell Card appears, depicting a metallic hand with waves of energy around it, like it is drawing anything metal. Meanwhile, Amelda has drawn two more cards, giving him a hand of five.

 _I have to keep searching until I find that card that I can use to really give this kid something he won't forget._ He thinks to himself. _This could take a while._

"I'll end my turn there. Now, make your move."

"Gladly," says Jun, drawing a card. "First off, I'm playing Gateway of the Six."

A Spell Card appears, depicting a traditional gate of a Japanese temple with the door shining vua a glowing seal stamped on it.

"Now whenever I Normal or Special Summon a 'Six Samurai' monster, this card gives me 2 Bushido Counters which I can offer up for different effects. So, let's get it started. I summon Six Samurai - Zanji in Attack Mode!

Rising from a portal of light and onto the stage is a samurai in armor with orange glowing lines. In his hands is a naginata that he points at Amelda. (1800 ATK)

"Next, I'll play Double Summon so I can make another Normal Summon this turn. And I'll use it to Summon Six Samurai - Irou also in Attack Mode!"

Another samurai appears next to Zanji, dressed in a dark robe with a metallic gauntlet covering his left arm and a visor, both with violet glowing lines. In his right hand is a nodachi with a dark blade that restaurant on his shoulders. (1700 ATK)

Meanwhile, four glowing orbs circle Jun's Gateway of the Six card. (BC: 0 -) 4)

"And check this out. Six Samurai monsters are known for working as a cohesive unit; I need at least two of them on the field to activate their effects. For Zanji, he can destroy any monster that he fights with during the Damage Step, and I see a horse that would probably be better off dead."

Zanji readies his naginata and charges toward Gimmick Puppet Des Troy, the monster whinnying as Zanji pierces through the mannequin equine, despite Jun losing lifepoints.

 **(Jun: 7500) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 7500)**

Then, as Zanji walks back to Jun's field, Gimmick Puppet shatters into pixels, but Amelda doesn't seem deterred.

"When Des Troy is sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon up to two 'Gimmick Puppet' monsters from my hand onto the field," he explains. "And the two I choose to summon are Gimmick Puppet Egg Head and Gimmick Puppet Twilight Joker!"

Two more monsters materialize: one has a orange body the shape of an egg with a human face, along with thin grey arms and legs and a toupee the color of grass. (1600 -) 1900 ATK) The second monster is a black mannequin dressed like a harlequin wearing a black hat ending in yellow pom-poms, red ruffled cuffs on his wrists and neck, white gloves, and teal shoes ending with curled toes. He wields a long scythe made out of obsidian. (1600 -) 1900 DEF)

"I end my turn with a face-down card," says Jun. "Make your move."

 _If he summons that Lion Gimmick Puppet, I am doomed._ He thinks to himself. _No, he needs_ _ **3**_ _Level 8 monsters to summon it and that Grand Guignol card has to go away if he wants to use its ability to win him the duel...which can't be destroyed long as a Gimmick Puppet is in play!_

 _So, if he's not playing that one, then he probably has either Giant Grinder or that Strings Gimmick Puppet. Fortunately, I don't play any Xyz monsters in this deck (I should invest in one or two of them though), leaving behind that lady puppet, but her effect won't cost me too much thanks to my face-down card._

 _So, all I have to do is figure out a way to make it leave the field quickly so I can go in for the kill._

Amelda draws his card. "First, I play Shard of Greed."

A Continuous Spell Card appears, showing a shard of a Pot of Greed (specifically, one that shows one of its eyes) with wisps of smoke rising from it.

"Now when I successfully complete my Draw Phase, Shard of Greed gains a Greed Counter. When I have two of them, I can sacrifice it to draw two cards.

"Next, I play Card of Puppet! By sacrificing a 'Gimmick Puppet' on the field, I get to draw one card."

A Spell Card, which shows a destroyed puppet while a card escapes from its broken body covered in a blue light, sucks up Gimmick Puppet Humpty Dumpty as Amelda draws another card. He frowns at what he has drawn before brushing it aside.

"I'll pay another 500 lifepoints to take a Gimmick Puppet into my hand."

 **(Jun: 7500) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 7000)**

A card pops out of his deck as Amelda snatches it, a smirk on his face.

"And then I summon it. I play Gimmick Puppet Magnet Doll in Attack Mode!"

A new Gimmick Puppet rises from the ground, a thin looking thing made out of grey metal with gold orbs for joints (presumably the magnets, hence the name) (1000 -) 1300 ATK)

"Isn't that a Level 8 monster?" asks Molly.

"Indeed it is," Amelda answers. "But I can Special Summon it when the only monsters I control are 'Gimmick Puppet' ones and my opponent controls at least one monster.

"And now that I have two Level 8 monsters, I create the Overlay Network!"

 _Here we go..._ Jun thinks, watching Gimmick Puppet Twilight Joker and Magnet Doll prepare to jump.

"Here she is," Amelda announces. "Presenting my lovely diva, I Xyz Summon...No. 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings!"

Both Level 8 Gimmick Puppets leap into the air before the new monster appears. Unlike its brethren, Gimmick Puppet is clearly female with short teal hair, wearing a layered skirt of white and red forged out of metal. In her right hand is a large sword, while her left arm looks as if it will fall off at any moment, only connected to the rest of the body through a series of strings. Her left shoulder is larger than her right, marked with the number '40' in red while a single white wing (also made of metal) is attached to said shoulder. Her left eye is a pinpoint of light that glares at Jun. (3000 -) 3300 ATK)

"A Number user?" Shooti gasps. "That can't be…"

The female puppet smiles and turns to Amelda.

 _Are we here to kill the lights?_ she asks, her voice deep and filled with amusement.

"She speaks!" Shooti exclaims.

"She's so pretty!" Molly comments (which causes Rebecca to flinch but, then again, Molly used a deck with Doll Chimera in it so maybe she just likes creepy dolls). "But Shooti, what is a 'Number user?'"

"Numbers are said to be cards of a strange and mysterious origin," Shooti answers. "There are said to be 99 of these in total, and duelists who use them are said to be called 'Number users.'

"Number monsters are unique as it's said that they are residents who hail from different worlds outside of our own. Each of them bond to a duelist that is right for them, creating contracts that let the duelist harness different powers. Most of the time, the monster chooses a person due to a certain attribute they possess, or perhaps the monster and duelist had a bond in a previous life or world."

"Do they speak?" asks Molly.

"Depends," Jun answers. "The Gimmick Puppet monsters that duelist used didn't move or speak at all so I assume that there was no spirit in those cards or he just can't sense it."

"Oh...I see now!" Molly beams as she stares at the Gimmick Puppet on the field. "So, what type of story is related to this one?"

"It's a sad and tragic tale," Amelda sighs. "Her story, as she has told me, goes like this.

"In a village with a name she has forgotten, there once lived a Puppet master, who would make puppets for the children and make them perform in spellbinding plays in his theater. But one night, a fire broke out (whether by accident or on purpose, it was never made clear) destroying the theater, his puppets and killing his beloved daughter.

"The puppet master went into hiding, and for years no one had seen or heard from him. From what he could salvage he began to experiment in dark magic, and how to being dolls to life. But not through conventional means, oh no. In order to create life, you must take it from somewhere else. That's how it goes: for one thing to be born, something has to die in its place.

"Thus, this broken man who once delighted children with his magnificent creations started kidnapping children in the dead of night, seeing if he could extract their souls to power his twisted experiments. Some failed, others made it...but not with their sanity intact.

"When he perfected this technique, the puppet master eventually created his most powerful Gimmick Puppets: Giant Grinder, Gimmick Puppet of Strings and Gimmick Puppet of Leo. Their numbers came from the successful attempts of the mad master's work."

"So...40 is the number of Gimmick Puppet of Strings because she's the fortieth successful puppet?" Molly asks.

Amelda nods his head. "And she was the puppet master's favorite, for she was built to fill the void that his precious daughter left him when she passed on. She was a beautiful thing, and yet the puppet master feared her. For while she looked human and could do things like most humans are capable of, the fact remained that she was still a puppet and could never replace the love he had for his daughter. Mad with grief and with realization at the suffering he caused, he decided that he would end this scheme and burn the puppets down.

"However, the puppets obtained souls, and they realized that their father would destroy them as if they were junk. They had to do something, and fast.

"There was an Uprising, and the man who created the Gimmick Puppets was killed, his body thrown into the mechanisms of Giant Grinder, hoisted into it by the Gimmick Puppet of Strings, for her heart had been broken by her father's rejection. And after that, the puppets left the village in hopes of finding someone who would accept them.

"And so…they found me."

There is silence as everyone takes in the story. Then, Reiji speaks.

"How exactly did they find you?" he asks.

"That…" Amelda chuckles. "Is a story for another time. Now, let's get back to the duel.

"By detaching an Xyz Material from Gimmick Puppet of Strings, I can place a String Counter on every other monster on the field."

The Gimmick Puppet raises her sword and runs it across the strings that connect her left arm to her body as if she runs a hand through a harp. Then, glowing red strings descend from the ceiling and wrap around the remaining three monsters.

"Oh, freak…" Jun mutters. "I remember this move."

"When I end my turn," Amelda begins. "All monsters with String Counters are destroyed, and you lose 500 lifepoints for each one.

"So, I'll end my turn with two face-down cards and…"

Gimmick Puppet of Strings smirks before she lets out an unearthly scream, causing the Grand Guignol to shake and the other monsters are destroyed by the razor sharp strings cutting into them. Jun grunts and covers his ears as his lifepoints drop.

 **(Jun: 6000) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 7000)**

After the Gimmick Puppet stops screaming, Jun lowers his hands before drawing a card.

"My turn," he says. "First, I play Six Samurai United!"

A Continuous Spell Card appears which prominently displays all Six Samurai, their armors trimmed in colors befitting their attributes.

"Whenever I Normal Summon or Special Summon a 'Six Samurai' monster, this card gains a Bushido Counter. If it gains two of them, I can offer it up to draw two cards; think of it as a Samurai variation of Shard of Greed.

"How exactly are you going to get two monsters on the field?" asks Amelda. "Even if you do, you have to figure out a way to get pass my Puppet of Strings."

Jun smirks. "That's where my face-down card comes to play. I activate... Double-Edged Sword Technique!"

Jun's card flips, revealing two samurais (Yariza charging into battle and Kamon with dynamite in hand) charging into battle as two spotlights shine.

"This card can let me Special Summon two 'Six Samurai' monsters from my graveyard. But if they're still on the field when my turn ends, they get destroyed and I lose lifepoints equal to their attack."

"Living dangerous, aren't we?" Amelda chuckles.

Jun shrugs his shoulders. "That's how I roll. So behold as I being back both Zanji and Irou for one more round! Plus, now that I just summoned two 'Six Samurai' monsters, Six Samurai United gets two Bushido Counters which I will offer up for two more cards."

Both Samurai monsters return to the field by pushing the curtain in front of them (1800 ATK) (1700 ATK) as Jun sends Six Samurai United to the graveyard and draws two new cards. Meanwhile, Gateway of the Six now has four more counters. (BC: 4 -) 8)

"And next, I'll use my Gateway of the Six and offer four Bushido Counters to take a 'Six Samurai' monster from my deck to my hand."

Four orbs rise and merge to create a card that floats into Jun's hand. (BC: 8 -) 4)

"And I'll summon her to the field. Come forth, Hand of the Six Samurai!"

A woman leaps onto the field, her head covered by a white cloth with a flame mark where her forehead should be, and dressed in a yellow and purple kimono (the sleeves showing the insignia of the Six Samurai) as she holds a thin dagger in her hands. (1600 ATK)

Meanwhile, Gateway of the Six gains two more counters. (BC: 4 -) 6)

"Now, here is where the fun begins. If I offer a 'Six Samurai' monster while my Hand of the Samurai is in play, she destroys one monster. Irou, time for a breather!"

Irou vanishes as Hand of the Six Samurai prepares her dagger. Then, as fast as light, she slices through the Gimmick Puppet Xyz Monster, the feminine puppet screaming in terror as she is sent to the graveyard.

"And now…" Jun chuckles as he points at Amelda. "Kill the lights!"

Hand of Six Samurai and Six Samurai - Zanji nod before they draw their weapons and slice at Amelda (who shields himself with his arms covering his torso, but he doesn't fly back).

 **(Jun: 6000) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 3600)**

"I may have lost a lot of lifepoints," says Amelda. "But that's for the best. I activate my face-down card Shock Draw!"

 _What the..._ Jun thinks as he sees Amelda draw three more cards. _What exactly is he searching for in his deck that is making him draw card after card and skip his Battle Phase? This is one strange Gimmick Puppet duelist…_

"My Battle Phase is done, but I won't end my turn there," says Jun. "I play from my hand Six Scrolls of the Samurai!"

Jun's Quick-play Spell Card appears, showing six unraveled scrolls of different colors. Then, both of his monsters get ensnared by these scrolls.

"Of course!" says Reiji. "By using that card, he prevents himself from losing 1800 lifepoints and can bring out another monster in return!"

"Come forth, Great Shogun Shien!" Jun exclaims. "Show this vampire warrior your might!"

The scrolls fade as a new monster appears: a samurai in crimson armor with an insignia of a white flame on his chest, spikes jutting out of the arms, a dark cape that flares out, and a katana in hand. (2500 ATK)

"And I'll end the turn with a face-down and that's it. So, draw all the cards you want. Come next turn, you're finished."

Amelda draws his card, then smiles. Meanwhile, his Shard of Greed shows a glowing green orb. (GC: 0 -) 1)

"Since I drew, my Shard of Greed gains a Greed Counter," Amelda explains. "Then, I play my Spell Card, Puppet Ritual!"

Amelda plays his card, showing an elegant frame that has Gimmick Puppet Magnet Doll connected to glowing strings and red curtains drawn back to the sides.

"This card allows me to Special Summon two Level 8 'Gimmick Puppet' monsters from my graveyard onto the field provided that the difference between our lifepoints is greater than 2000, and that I skip my Battle Phase this turn. So I'm bringing back Gimmick Puppet Twilight Joker and Gimmick Puppet Magnet Doll for the second act!"

Puppet Ritual unleashes glowing strings that dragged both Gimmick Puppet monsters back to the field. (1600 -) 1900 DEF) (1000 -) 1300 DEF)

"And now, I play Xyz Reborn to being back Gimmick Puppet of Strings for another performance!"

The female Gimmick Puppet appears on stage once again, her sword pointing at Great Shogun Shien as a cruel smile appears on her lips. (3300 -) 3600 ATK)

"And now…" Amelda places a hand near his Duel Disk as Jun cringes, knowing he would be losing another 1500 lifepoints if Amelda detaches Xyz Reborn. "...I play one card face-down and end my turn."

"Okay, this is getting annoying," Jun notes, drawing a card. "Time for me to end this quick. First, I play Premature Burial to resurrect Six Samurai - Zanji once more."

For a third time, the naginata wielding samurai appears, scowling at the Gimmick Puppets opposite of him. (1800 ATK)

 **(Jun: 5200) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 3600)**

"Next, I'll offer another four Bushido Counters to take a 'Six Samurai' monster to my hand…"

Four orbs shatter as Jun takes a new card from his deck.

"Then, I summon Six Samurai - Nisashi onto the field in Attack Mode!""

A new samurai with lime green armor appears wiwlding two swords in hand with glowing green blades (a katana in his right and a wakizashi in his left). (1400 ATK)

"My monsters are still stronger," Amelda notes. "Even if you used your Six Samurai monsters to destroy my puppets, Gimmick Puppet of Strings is stronger than Great Shogun Shien.

"And I know how your monsters work: if I tried to attack on my turn, you'll just redirect the attack onto Zanji. You'd lose 1800 lifepoints, but I would be a sitting duck. So... what's the plan?"

Jun smirks. "My plan is this. I activate... Breakthrough!"

Jun's card lifts, showing Six Samurai - Yaichi preparing to fire an arrow at someone as Six Samurai - Nisashi charges forward.

"Here's how this works. I select one 'Six Samurai' monster I control. If he successfully destroys a monster during the Battle Phase, then both Nisashi and Great Shogun Shien can bypass your monsters and attack directly. And the monster I select is Six Samurai - Zanji!"

Zanji glows with a bright light as he charges toward Twilight Joker, the monster blocking the attack with its scythe before Zanji thrusts the blade of his weapon into Twilight Joker's stomach, causing it to shatter.

 **(Jun: 5100) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 3600)**

Both Great Shogun Shien and Six Samurai - Nisashi prepare their weapons as Amelda braces himself. They leap over both of the Gimmick Puppets as Amelda shields himself with his wings. There is smoke that covers the theater as everyone waits for the results.

When the smoke dies down, both samurai have their weapons blocked by Amelda's Duel Disk and Magnet Doll seems to have vanished.

 **(Jun: 5100) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 1000)**

"Wait a minute, that should have worked!" Jun exclaims as his warriors return to their master's field. "How did you…"

Amelda reveals a card in his hand: Mystic Wok. Jun groans.

"That was too close," Varon notes. "If it wasn't for that, Amelda would have lost."

 _Damn it!_ Jun thinks as he glances at his Gateway of the Six. _I should have offered up counters to boost Nisashi's attack! I was too confident with my strategy again._

Atem chuckles as he watches Jun signal the end of his turn. It has been a very interesting duel, and he can tell that it will end soon.

Amelda draws his card as his Shard of Greed obtains another counter. (GC: 1 -) 2)

"First off," he begins. "I offer my Shard of Greed to draw two cards."

Shard of Greed shatters as Amelda makes two more draws. As he stares at his three new cards, he looks up at Jun.

"Next, I detach Xyz Reborn from my Gimmick Puppet of Strings to place String Counters on your monsters."

Gimmick Puppet of Strings runs her sword through her strings again as red strings trap Jun's samurai monsters.

"And now, before I reveal the card that spells my victory, tell me something." Amelda looks up. "You get very touchy whenever someone says how the Dark Signers are a 'cult'..."

"Which it's not!" Jun snarls, balling a hand to a fist. Amelda just stares at the younger boy.

"Why is that?" he asks. "I mean, you died and came back to life by them, hinting that they are skilled with necromancy, you dress in dark robes, take orders from your master and were given the powers of darkness...it all spells out 'C-U-L-T' to me.

"So, if you don't mind, what do you have against that word?"

Jun stays quiet, briefly holding his arm before he closes his eyes.

"This isn't about _me_ personally," he begins. "For clarification, I was killed as payback by one of my dad's enemies, this sadistic prison guard who never took no for an answer and didn't care who he hurt as long as he could get away with it. And the reason I'm like this was all because he accused me of tampering with his deck (just like my samurai monsters, I fight with honor) when it was someone _else_ with my hair style that did the deed."

"I know that kid," says Reiji, shaking his head. "He hasn't changed his ways, just his targets."

"But the reason I hate that word is because my first duty as an Acolyte inadvertently got Shooti involved and made _him_ an Acolyte just like me."

"You mean that suicide thing?" asks Varon, recalling Shooti's story.

Jun nods. "Someone formed a suicide club under the disguise of a 'rental service' where lonely teens gain new identities and perform different roles to escape their lives and become something else...even if they decide to be killed in utterly gruesome ways.

"Shooti found himself in the middle of this mystery after I was enrolled as a victim jumping into the path of an oncoming train alongside 24 other teens (long story) and made it out okay (a plus side of being dead; you don't feel any pain even as your limbs are pulled apart). It wasn't until he learned how his older brother was part of the company and using some weird magic to manipulate events to make him a successful reporter that he tried to enter the company and figure out the truth.

"Unfortunately, his 'attempt' in going undercover was found out by the president of the rental service and he found himself holding hands with other students willing to jump off a bridge if they were commanded to and falling to his death...all while his brother filmed it without pity, remorse or guilt.

"The Dark Signer who revived Shooti helped shut the rental service down, especially when it was revealed that this was all a scheme to steal the souls of those killed by suicide to resurrect a being so dark, so foul, and so ruthless that it makes saying _Voldemort_ easier to do. As for Shooti's brother, he vanished and hasn't been seen since."

"Technically he _has_ been seen, just not by his real name," Shooti clarifies, brushing away a bad memory from months ago. "And Mom told him to never come back after what he did to me."

"I see," says Amelda. "And what makes the Dark Signers so different from that cult?"

"We feed on the darkness of mankind," Jun answers (ignoring how Amelda said the dreaded c-word). "Each Dark Signer falls under a certain sin committed, and it becomes our 'fuel' in order to strengthen us since we can't partake in regular food now (well we do, but just for the sake of appearing normal). For my Dark Signer, she goes after those filled with Sloth (or Despair), which was a crime committed by Shooti's brother.

"And since said brother also used that magic for fame and glory, he fell under Avarice too (the Sin where Shooti's Dark Signer represents). Shooti didn't feel any pity for the guy, and I don't blame him for that."

"For curiosity's sake," says Raphael, speaking up for the first time since the duel began. "What is the name of this photographer?"

Shooti closes his eyes as something forms in his hand. He opens his eyes, look at what he has created, then tosses it toward Raphael like it is a shuriken. Raphael grabs it and stares at the name, alongside Rebecca.

"Hey, I know him!" she exclaims. "He used to take photographs of some urban exploration sites in Domino. We have a copy of his book!"

"Yeah, that was a hobby of his," Shooti mutters, more memories flashing by.

"And unlike that cult, we don't kill people," Jun continues. "We feed on their sin, but after that the person has to pick up the pieces and reform their life anew without the vices that led us to them. Of course, in more serious cases, sometimes a human soul is so dark that we find ourselves eating _that_ too."

"I honestly did want to do that to my brother," Shooti snarls. "But sparing him was better, because now he has to deal with the consequences for the rest of his life."

"And that weird magic?" asks Rebecca, hesitantly.

"Purified, and it has become _my_ power now," Shooti answers. "And I promise to _never_ use it like my brother did."

"Interesting," says Amelda, briefly staring at his hand. "Makes my past seem like a fairy tale.

"But, with story time over, let's get back to our duel. So Jun, quick question..."

"No, I am not disclosing the name of the guy who killed me," Jun answers. "The Enforcers took care of him a while back." When he receives silence from the siblings, he adds, "Another long story."

"Right. Now, regarding the last time you fought a Gimmick Puppet deck, did this duelist you fought have _this_?"

Amelda reveals his card as Jun looks in horror. Clearly, that is the only answer needed.

"W..what is that thing?!" Jun gasps.

"The key to victory," Amelda answers. "I activate the magic of... Rank-Up-Magic Argent Chaos Force!"

Amelda plays his Spell Card, a golden shield with four symbols on it (Jun can't make out what they are, but he knows the symbol in the center looks like a sun) on a purple and black background and lightning bolts striking all around. Then, Amelda's Gimmick Puppet of Strings is struck by the card, her mouth open in a silent scream before electricity surges through her body like blood.

"This card lets me Special Summon a Chaos Xyz monster whose rank is exactly one star higher than what I offer. So I offer my Rank 8 Gimmick Puppet of Strings to bring forth her evolved form!

"Now, rise C40: Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings! Rise and win me this duel!"

Gimmick Puppet of Strings disappears after being struck one more time by a larger, more powerful bolt of lightning. Then, when the lightning fades, Jun looks in horror at the monster he is seeing.

It is female with black skin as if carved by obsidian, with short blonde hair and the same pinpoint of light for a left eye. There is a red design on her right leg, black wings made out of knives jutting from her back (the one on the right seems to be connected to a white cord that is most likely her spine) and she still has the red '40' on her left shoulder. Her weapon is a black double-bladed weapon with red trim that she grips menacingly.

She is a figure of beauty, a figure of darkness, and she chuckles at Jun's monsters before she licks her lips. (3600 -) 3900 ATK)

"She's...beautiful!" Molly exclaims, blue eyes shining like stars.

The Gimmick Puppet laughs. _Why thank you, little girl…._

"Okay, wait a second," says Jun. " _Chaos_ Xyz Summon? Is that even legal? Shooti, is there an article about this on _Chasing Shadows_?"

"I think that Carly is working on that, last I checked," says Shooti. He pauses. "Speaking of which, last time I spoke to her, she mentioned that Akari and her brother were watching a duelist with Gimmick Puppets go against someone who dueled with samurai…"

"Uh, let's get back to the duel!" Jun suddenly exclaims, waving his arms around. "We, uh, should get this finished so that we can get back home safe and sound…"

"He's hiding something," Rebecca notes. "That's the worse cover-up I've seen."

"Here's how my monster works," Amelda begins. "When she's summoned, all monsters who have String Counters on them get destroyed. And then, you get damage equal to the monster who has the most attack points!"

"But that means…" Jun looks at Great Shogun Shien in fear.

"Bingo!" says Amelda. "Bye-bye."

Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings slices the monsters in half, the samurai screaming as they explode. Jun has to shield himself as his lifepoints drop.

 **(Jun: 2600) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 1000)**

"Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow," Amelda sighs. "But it's time to being down the curtain. Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings, if you please…"

The Gimmick Puppet laughs before she swoops towards Jun and slices his Duel Disk with her blade, causing him to fall onto his back with a groan and end the duel.

 **(Jun: 0) - - - - - - - (Amelda: 1000)**

"Victory goes to Amelda," says Atem, applauding as Gimmick Puppet of Dark Strings bows to the Pharaoh and the Grand Guignol begins to fade away like a distant memory. "And with this, the score is tied with two victories for both sides. Now, the final duel shall decide who gains my 'blessings' so to speak.

"We start in ten minutes, so don't disappoint me…"

Jun groans and sits up before pulling out a card hidden in his sleeve, knowing he will have to give it up now. Amelda, in the meantime, returns his cards back into his deactivated Duel Disk as Varon wraps his arms around his boyfriend's waist.

"You did good, love," he whispers.

Amelda smiles back, turns around and places a kiss on Varon's cheek. "As always."

Jun approaches the embracing vampires, eyes darting away from how the two are about to do more than just kiss, with a card in his hand.

"Just take care of it, all right?," Jun asks, handing it to Amelda. He lets out a sigh in defeat. "You don't know how much this means to me."

Amelda takes the card into his hand and stares at it for a second or two. Then, he looks up.

"Hey, Deckard," he says to Shooti. "Catch."

Shooti looks in alarm as Amelda throws the card like it is a shuriken before he catches it in-between his fingers. He blinks in confusion.

"Take a look at what Jun kept from you," says Amelda.

Shooti looks at the card Amelda tossed at him, eyes wide with shock before he turns to Jun with the look of one being betrayed by their close friend (which, in a way, he has gone through that, but this expression isn't as severe as that one was). He then shows the card, depicting a myriad of spaceships on a highway in subspace.

"You had a _Tannhauser Gate_ the entire time and never told me?!" he exclaims at his best friend. "How could you?"

Jun rubs the back of his head with embarrassment. "I was waiting to give it to you for your birthday," he explains. "It took me a long time to locate a copy of that thing, and a long night down at Domino Below in order to challenge the guy who owned it, but I knew you'd want one since you love that _Blade_ _Runner_ movie so much."

"This...this is…" Shooti shakes his head before playfully slugging Jun in the arm. "This is for keeping this hidden from me. And is that _all_ you're hiding?"

"Well, Bel _has_ been planning on asking you to cosplay as Deckard from _Blade Runner_ while she dresses up as Pris at a sci-fi convention in a few months."

Shooti then punches Jun's shoulder again to prove his point. Then the two laugh and return to the rest of their fellow Acolytes.

Meanwhile, Yugi turns once more to Rebecca and her siblings gather together, with Raphael calmly shuffling his deck as he stares at Reiji doing the exact same thing. He then looks at Atem and speaks.

"So," Yugi begins, trying to ignore the Pharaoh turning his crimson gaze towards the blushing younger teen. "What would happen once this is over?"

Atem chuckles. "What would you want to happen?"

"Well I would like to see everyone return to their beds safe and sound," Yugi begins. "And then I would probably sleep till morning."

"An excellent idea, love," Atem murmurs. "Anything else?"

"Um, what type of blessings are you going to give the winning team?"

Atem stays silent before he chuckles once more, baring his teeth in a grin that easily interprets to, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You'll see in time," Atem answers. "But for now, let's sit back and enjoy the show."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Grand Guignol (Spell Card)**

 **Field Spell**

 **Image:** A theater held inside of an old church with a poster advertising No. 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings.

 **Card Description:** This card cannot be destroyed while you have a 'Gimmick Puppet' monster on the field. All 'Gimmick Puppet' monsters you control gain an additional 300 ATK and DEF points. Once per turn you can pay 500 lifepoints to take one 'Gimmick Puppet' monster from your deck to your hand. If you do so, you must skip your Battle Phase.

 _Note: The Grand Guignol was a prominent theater in France, the name "Guignol" meaning "puppet" that held many two-act plays whose subject matter was of psychosis, mental horrors, fears of the unknown, disease and the wicked nature of mankind. Opened in 1897 and closed in 1962, it had more than 1000 plays written and performed. (The proprietors also could tell if a night was successful depending on how many people fainted during a performance)._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Molly: Two wins and two losses each. What happens if** _ **we**_ **win?**

 **Noah: I show more concern if we lose this duel. Better yet, what exactly do we know about this Pharaoh aside from he has no sense of personal space and gets irate if anyone mentions Yugi, er, Heba, in a bad light?**

 **Shooti: Beats me. I think we should be glad if Wataru and the other Dark Signers don't have our heads for this.**

 **Jun: Come on Reiji. Show him what you're made of.**

 **Reiji: It all comes down to this. Next time, Ab Antiquo - 6, "Knight's Title"**

 **Raphael: So, let's fight like gentlemen.**


End file.
